Introduction
Topic
The primary research question is the causes of childhood obesity and how the problem can be addressed. The working thesis is that childhood obesity is a multifaceted lifestyle disease, which can be managed easily by making the right choices concerning what children eat and their level of engagement in physical activities.
Context/Background
Childhood obesity is one of the common lifestyle diseases in contemporary times, and its Prevalence is on the rise. This assertion is alarming because obese children tend to have health complications later in life as adults. Therefore, understanding the causes of childhood obesity together with ways of addressing the problem will play an important role in ensuring healthy populations in the future.
According to Skinner, Ravanbakht, Skelton, Perrin, and Armstrong (2018), incidence rates of childhood obesity in the United States have been rising since 1999. Xu and Xue (2016) posit that causes of childhood obesity are diverse, but in most cases, they are associated with lifestyle choices.
Audience
The primary audience is all parents with young children. The audience shares my opinions and values because most parents, if not all, would want their children to enjoy healthy lives. In addition, obesity predisposes children to other complicated health conditions, such as heart diseases, hypertension, diabetes, and breathing problems, to mention but a few. Therefore, I think parents will be interested in knowing the causes of childhood obesity and what they can do to prevent its occurrence.
Structure of Argument
Define the Problems
It has been established that the Prevalence of childhood obesity is on the rise, and thus strategies are needed to address this health issue before it becomes endemic. According to a study by Skinner et al. (2018), clinical and policy efforts that have been put forward to address childhood obesity have been ineffective. Sahoo et al. (2015) argue that the main causes of childhood obesity include unhealthy eating habits, lack of physical activity, genetic factors, and a combination of other factors. More research will be needed to establish the role of lifestyle choices in causing childhood obesity. Scholarly articles will be used to achieve this objective.
Define the Solutions
According to Xu and Sue (2016), the best way to prevent childhood obesity is to have healthy eating habits and ensure that children get enough physical exercise. In contemporary times, children spend a lot of time watching television or playing with electronic devices, which predisposes them to obesity. For the already obese children, parents are encouraged to seek medical help and offer the requisite support to the affected.
More research needs to be conducted using evidence-based articles to establish the strategies that have worked in the past. Lifestyle diseases like obesity do not have one-fits-all solutions, hence the need to have evidence-based information to understand the different facets of the problem and the tested solutions.
Conclusion
Through this project, I seek to create awareness concerning the causes and consequences of childhood obesity together with giving solutions to the problem. I believe that parents play an important role in the management of this problem, and thus as my target audience, I want to communicate in a simple and clear way for everyone to understand.
The main challenge with this project is the availability of numerous data on the topic. The issue of childhood obesity has been researched extensively, and thus sifting through the available information will be time-consuming.
References
Sahoo, K., Sahoo, B., Choudhury, A. K., Sofi, N. Y., Kumar, R., & Bhadoria, A. S. (2015). Childhood obesity: Causes and consequences. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 4(2), 187-192.
Skinner, A. C., Ravanbakht, S. N., Skelton, J. A., Perrin, E. M., & Armstrong, S. C. (2018). Prevalence of obesity and severe obesity in US children, 1999-2016. Pediatrics, 141(3), 1-11. Web.
Xu, S., & Xue, Y. (2016). Pediatric obesity: Causes, symptoms, prevention, and treatment. Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine, 11(1), 15-20.