The Reasons Why There Is An Increase In Teenage Obesity And How To Fight Overweight

Obesity is a serious medical condition that is associated with having an excess amount of body fat, defined by genetic and environmental factors that are difficult to control when dieting. Children usually eat anywhere and anything without thinking about how that affects their health or weight. Obesity can occur for many different reasons, it can be based on both genetic and behavioral factors. As children start school, they don’t often have the time to pick out the healthy snacks, they just go with what they have. This research paper will examine the question: To what extent does the consumption of high-fat foods in school cafeterias contribute to teenage obesity. Although the high-fat foods in school cafeterias played a significant role in teenage obesity, in the end, genetic factors, lack of physical activity, and unhealthy eating patterns resulted in an increase in teenage obesity.

Many teenagers are at a remarkable risk for obesity because of genetic factors. In the book, “African-American Healthy, What you need to know to protect your health” It states, “While genetic is the chief cause of the poor state of African-American health, the problem is compounded by socioeconomics, cultural beliefs, and even our modern environment” (Walker, pp. v-vi.). Being born with a family history of overweight or obese people will have a huge impact on the upcoming generation and their features, especially the weight that they will carry. Without proper care, genetic weight can be really hard to lose. Healthcare costs in the United States exceed to the point that even if you have healthcare, you can run out of money paying for it.

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Parents can improve their life and their child’s life by becoming free from diseases and by saving money spent on healthcare. The culture also has to change in their attitude by embracing medical research, for the information it provides to have good health. Economic development, socioeconomic status, and obesity are all related in the way that lower-income communities has more obese people because of malnutrition and genetics from previous generations. In an article for ‘Disease Control and Prevention’ it states, “Genes give the body instructions for responding to changes in its environment. Studies of resemblances and differences among family members, twins, and adoptees offer indirect scientific evidence that a sizable portion of the variation in weight among adults is due to genetic factors” (Public Health Genomics).

In order to fight off ‘gene fat” eating healthier as a young kid and having an exercise schedule can help with fighting off the ‘hard to get rid of’ fat’. It does not take a long time for the body to be situated with what it finds; if for a few weeks, little portions are coming through the body, the bodies start to get used to it and the fat starts to transform. By adding exercise, the body will become more toned and healthier. Additionally, by embracing an attitude of illness prevention, and realizing the importance of diet, exercise, vitamin D3, you can break from an assumed fate of disease and early death. According to the book, “African-American Healthy, What you need to know to protect your health” it states, “Type 2 diabetes often occurs when obesity, stress, and lack of exercise combine to increase the body’s insulin level, which over time, can cause cell membranes to lose their sensitivity to its effect” (Walker, pp. v-vi.).

Being a high school student is arduous, the majority of students do not have the time to eat early in the morning as some of them have to catch the bus, and when they get to school, the breakfast that they serve is not as healthy as they portray to be. Exercising is a big factor that contributes to obesity, eating too many greasy foods and not exercising the fat away by not moving can affect the health negatively by causing a heart attack. In an online article that I was reading it states, “Obesity is generally caused by eating too much and moving too little” (NHS Choices). Studies have shown that the rate of teenagers being involved with sports or even spending time outdoors has lowered. Teenagers do everything with technology. They eat, use the restroom, even sleep with their phones and it’s showing that they are not doing enough with their bodies, they are not walking enough, they are too focused on a telephone screen. In the same way, there was another article that states, “And with provincial governments- pressured by parents-banning the sale of junk foods and sweet drinks, many standard cafeterias are closing due to lost revenues” (Cuthbert, Pamela).

As the evidence states, it is important to look out for yourself, cook healthier foods on your own, and by the standard cafeterias closing it shows that they were not providing healthy foods and it is up to the teenagers to change their lifestyle before becoming an adult that won’t be able to control their weight. Last but not least, modern technology has taken away nutrition from healthy foods replacing it with empty calories, and synthetic chemicals that fool our bodies into giving us the same powerful biological signals to keep eating. According to the article, “School lunch cause childhood obesity” it states, “School food directors say they have to serve fatty meals to satisfy the tastes of children raised on McDonald’s and Domino’s” (Yeaman, Barry). This quote visibly portrays that because the teenage generation is addicted to fast food therefore, cafeterias have to also serve various meals such as French fries, chicken, chicken tenders, et cetera.

From time to time, they will serve salad but those often have cheese and dressing which takes away the nutrients within the salad. Michelle Obama similarly stated the same key points that I have and she required for school lunches to not fry foods but instead bake the foods in order for the oil to not affect our cholesterol. Another following website explored the idea of children eating unhealthy school lunch. It states, “Even the government regulates the number of calories a child’s school lunch has, as it does with NSLP, many schools allow children to purchase a la carte foods on top of the lunch that are calorie-rich and high in fat, sodium, sugar, or all three” (Schuna, Carly). Because of the obesity rate rising up, the government has to interfere by regulating the number of calories student’s intake.

At a point in life, it has to be a child’s decision to eat healthier and to become a better person. Even though teenagers spend half of their day in school that does not mean that they have to necessarily eat the food that the cafeterias offer. If they have the money, they can bring their own healthy lunch, and when they go home, balancing their meal can be brought into consideration and going to the gym or just running laps for an hour can be beneficial to lowering the rate of teenage obesity. It has been shown that cafeteria foods are not the only aspect that can cause teenage obesity; the teenagers' overall lifestyle contributes to their health. However, as teenagers grow older they can identify if they are healthy and if they need to work on it. In the end, genetic factors, lack of exercise, and modern technology are the reasons why there is an increase in teenage obesity and with proper self-care, the rise in teenage obesity can go down. 

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