The CDC states
that the percentage of children aged 6-11 years in the United States who were
obese increased from 7% in 1980 to almost 20% in 2008 (CDC). The relevance of
this age group is that it generally represents children at the elementary
school age, which is also a crucial stage of development. Obesity at this age
can lead to significant immediate and long-term health effects. For example, a
population based sample of 5 to 17 year olds showed that 70% of obese youth had
at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CDC). Furthermore,
children who are obese are more likely to be obese as adults, so it is easy to
see the impact obesity can have on a child throughout their whole life.
The magnitude of
this problem is great and what is even more staggering is the rapidity with
which the rates have climbed over the last 30 years or so. What is most
interesting about this increases that took place over different racial and
ethnic groups. While there has been an increase in obesity prevalence overall
in children there was an increase in prevalence from 10.7% to 19.8% among
non-Hispanic black boys, from 14.1% to 26.8% among Mexican-American boys, but
just an increase from 11.6% to 16.7% among non-Hispanic white boys (CDC). This
trend is similar for girls. There was an increase in prevalence from 8.9% to
14.5% among non-Hispanic white girls, from 16.3% to 29.2% among non-Hispanic
black girls, from 13.4% to 17.4% among Mexican-American girls (CDC).
An indirect
indicator of differences in prevalence of childhood obesity among different
ethnic and racial groups can be displayed in the number of fast food
restaurants in different neighborhoods. An archive study in New Orleans found
that Predominantly black neighborhoods have 2.4 fast-food
restaurants per square mile compared to 1.5 restaurants in predominantly white
neighborhoods (Archive).
Block, Jason P and Scribner, Richard A and DeSalvo, Karen B
(2004) Fast Food, Race/Ethnicity, and Income: A Geographic Analysis.
American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 27 (3). pp. 211-217.
Focusing on such a young age group is definitely ideal, especially because that's the age during which eating habits develop that are then carried by children for the rest of their lives. The difference in obesity rate increases between racial and ethnic groups is really interesting, especially because the groups are so specific, consisting of race or ethnicity, as well as gender (specifically boys). It's good that your topic is something that can be studied at a level this specific, that's really beneficial to your paper! Your indicators so far are also very clear and effective; I agree with you in that obesity is partially caused by environmental factors such as the presence of fast food restaurants. I'm curious to see whether you treat this public health issue as the responsibility of the individual or of society or both, and even more curious to see whether you're going to discuss solving this problem in a preventive way in an attempt to protect future generations or in a curative way, focusing on those who are already suffering from obesity.
ReplyDelete