Childhood obesity is child abuse

By Jorge Contreras

Childhood obesity is a global problem. The reason for this is that it makes kids “targets for bullying” because of their weight, according to the National Library of Medicine. Also, childhood obesity is the parents' not keeping track of what they eat or feeding the child too much.

The parent is wise and responsible enough to know when the child is getting overweight, but not stopping and preventing obesity should be considered child abuse because the parents know what they are doing to the child. The parents could get the child on track to lose weight at any time, but the process will be agonizing for the child.

There is a difference between being obese and overweight. The difference is the BMI, which stands for body mass index. An overweight child has a BMI greater than or equal to 25, and an obese child has a BMI greater than or equal to 30.

Keeping a child obese throughout their childhood will probably make them self-conscious of their weight at any point. Being obese usually leads to health problems, and, according to UnityPoint Health, childhood obesity leads to a “reduced life expectancy." It also states, “Childhood obesity could reduce average life expectancy by five years or more over the next several decades."

Childhood obesity can also cause some financial issues for parents. This is because of the calories the child might want to consume. The parents are at fault for making the child obese due to a lack of exercise and an overabundant calorie intake.

Thinking that being obese is okay and normal is wrong because then that opinion will most likely be passed on to their children and so on, making more and more people believe that their obesity is acceptable. Being obese is not healthy at all because of “heart diseases and strokes, type 2 diabetes, digestive problems,” and so on, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Once a child gets obese or overweight, it is tough for them to lose weight and change their eating habits. Also, they would have to keep the change to not gain that same amount of weight back after losing it.

Being obese shouldn’t be anything to be ashamed of, but staying obese shouldn’t be something to keep in mind. People who are obese should work on themselves to lose weight and become healthier in life.

Obesity and being overweight have been normalized in this day and age, which is a bad thing to be normalized. Obesity shouldn’t be normalized because having it normalized will lead people to believe it’s OK to go from overweight and below to obese and high on the BMI meter.

Child obesity leads children to have a high risk of developing anxiety and depression, according to the National Library of Medicine. This is making them more of a risk, when they are older, of suicide and causing premature death in obese children, according to the National Library of Medicine.

Child obesity is an epidemic now because it's affecting so many young people in the world, and parents need to do whatever they can to prevent it.