Childhood obesity - Research Paper Example

Obesity is issue that has cropped up and is on the increase if prevention mechanisms are not put in place. It has become epidemic in many developed nations and especially in the United States. Statistics shows that about 58 million people are overweight and 40 million have been proved to be suffering from obese. This represents nearly one third of the Americas population. Related to the wellbeing of children, childhood obesity is one of main issues these days in almost every part of the world.

This medical condition adversely affects the mental and physical health of children, as well as their level of self-confidence. On academic level, it puts an unpleasant impact on the mind and confidence of obese children because of which they usually do not show good academic performances (Sabia, 2007, p. 871). In developed countries, childhood obesity has become a serious health concern. Obese children usually do not perform well in their studies because they feel inferiority complex when their peers make fun of them.

Their level of confidence and self-esteem go down as the result, which makes them unable to talk to their teachers and peers in a confident way. It is obvious that at school level, children are not as mentally mature as they get when they grow up. So they do not have any idea whether they are doing a good act by laughing at a comparatively fat fellow or not. They laugh at him/her, make fun, and call him/her by improper names because of which the confidence level of the targeted fellow goes down and he/she becomes unable to cope with the situation.

This results in making the child self-conscious and less focused towards studies. Moreover, obese children feel low due to such situations because of which they participate neither in extra-curricular activities nor in classroom activities. In extra-curricular activities, the participation of obese students is almost