Children and Obesity

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This article has both strengths and weaknesses, some of which have been mentioned already. One of the main strengths of this article is its ability to easily and understandably outline steps for the readers to take in helping prevent childhood obesity. The use of prevention tips from the Childhood Obesity Foundation gives a good summary of important things families can do to help. The references made towards studies conducted regarding childhood obesity offers the article good supporting information. The results from the studies are all consistent with the viewpoints of this article. However, there is a lot of further research that can be done on this topic. This article’s weaknesses include the lack of statistics to support the view that childhood obesity has become a global epidemic, along with statistics to support prevention efforts suggested by the article. Are these prevention suggestions proven to decrease the likelihood of child obesity? This would have been a good question for the article to address. The article talks a lot about prevention, but it would be beneficial to also mention steps parents should take when they have a child who is obese.

Another downfall to the article is the bias position. The article focuses on what parents can do to prevent childhood obesity. However, there are may other strong influential people in children’s lives that play a key part in preventing childhood obesity. The article would have benefited from expressing the roles other individuals such as teachers, friends etc. have, and what they can do to help with prevention. The article also could have expanded it’s use of sources. The prevention tips were all written by the Childhood Obesity Foundation, but there are many other organizations that parents should look to for prevention tips such as the “Let’s Move! Child Care child obesity prevention program” initiated by Michelle Obama, or the “We Can!” national education program designed for parents and caregivers to help children stay at a healthy weight.

This article discusses an important topic in our society and its viewpoints are consistent with other articles in the news, statistics from studies conducted, and Stats Canada. The article maintains the position that prevention is key to putting an end to childhood obesity. This is more of an informative than opinionative piece, but its purpose is to provide readers with knowledge about childhood obesity and what they can do to help prevent it. Childhood obesity is an important topic as our children are our future, and we need to take steps to ensure they live long, healthy, and happy lives. This article along with the many others about childhood obesity is important so that we can bring issues to the forefront and help families get on track to a healthy lifestyle.

References

Childhood Obesity Foundation. (2015, April). Statistics. Retrieved from http://childhoodobesityfoundation.ca/what-is-childhood-obesity/statistics/

Government of Canada. (2016, September 12). Childhood Obesity. Retrieved from http://healthycanadians.gc.ca/healthy-living-vie-saine/obesity-obesite/risks-risques-eng.php

Hales, D., & Lauson, L. (2013). An Invitation to Health (4th ed.). US: Nelson Education.

Linton, M. (2012, December 31). Kids' obesity a global threat. Toronto Sun. Retrieved from http://www.torontosun.com/2012/12/26/kids-obesity-a-global-threat

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. (n.d.). We Can! Retrieved from https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/wecan/

Roberts, K. C., Shields, M., De Groh, M., Aziz, A., & Gilbert, J. (2015, July 17). Overweight and obesity in children and adolescents: Results from the 2009 to 2011 Canadian Health Measures Survey. Retrieved from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/82-003-x/2012003/article/11706-eng.htm

World Health Organization. (2016, June). Obesity and Overweight. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/

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