Relationship Between Childhood Obesity and Lack of Physical Activity in Los Angeles County

Childhood obesity has been a health threat globally. For instance, one-third of children in the United States are diagnosed with obesity or are overweight. It is a complex health issue resulting from biological, environmental, historical, behavioral, or developmental factors (Kansra, Lakkunarajah & Jay 2021). However, the cause linked to the increased rate of childhood obesity is the imbalance between intake and expenditure of excess calories. For example, teens could develop unhealthy eating habits such as night eating syndrome (NES), Bulimia Nervosa (BN), or Binge eating disorder (BED) (Kansra, Lakkunarajah & Jay 2021). As a result, adolescent and childhood obesity has become a national epidemic in the United States. Approximately 17% of children show symptoms of obesity (Sanyaolu et al., 2019). For instance, about 17% of children in Los Angeles county are obese (Nobari et al., 2019). However, diet and exercise are crucial in managing and preventing obesity in Los Angeles children between 10-18 years.

Los Angeles County is among the most affected states by childhood obesity due to the increased intake of calories and lack of good physical exercise. According to CDC findings, approximately 20% of children are obese or overweight due to family lifestyle issues where children take a lot of calories and engage in little or no physical activities (Nobari et al., 2019). In addition, research indicates that a large percentage of children who lack exercise develop obesity symptoms. However, although physical exercise is the main factor in decreasing the risk of obesity, both obese and healthy children enjoy physical activity. However, obese children could have the limitation of participation due to their high weight and the accompanying health issues such as heart attack and mental health issues. According to WHO, the high childhood obesity prevalence is to a great extent contributed by a decreased level of physical activity. For instance, insufficient physical activity contributes to approximately 5.3 million deaths (Wyszyńska et al., 2020). In addition, it contributes to several non-infectious diseases such as obesity, high pressure, heart attack, diabetes, and stroke. According to research, between 2009 and 2019, the causes of obesity among children in grades k to 5th decreased from 13.9 to 6.4% after the LA department of health initiated a program to enhance physical activity and offer a nutritious diet (Wyszyńska et al., 2020). Therefore, although lack of physical activity is not the only cause of childhood obesity, research indicates that it plays a critical role in causing obesity.

The study examines the relationship between lack of sufficient exercise and childhood obesity in Los Angeles county. The study is crucial as it helps solve the increasing rate of obesity among children in the county and globally (Wyszyńska et al., 2020). Furthermore, the research will contribute to a new insight on how parents and schools could protect children from being overweight and obese by practicing healthy lifestyles. However, the focus on Los Angeles could limit the study's external validity; further study using other countries or states could be crucial to gain more knowledge about the issue from different perspectives to expand on the existing knowledge (Wyszyńska et al., 2020). Therefore, the study is essential to establish the role lack of physical exercise plays in the increasing cases of childhood obesity in LA county.

However, diet and exercise are crucial in managing and preventing obesity in Los Angeles children between 10-18 years. However, although lack of physical activity is not the only cause of childhood obesity, research indicates that it plays a critical role in causing obesity. However, the study is crucial to establish the role lack of physical exercise plays in the increasing cases of childhood obesity in LA county.

References

Kansra, A. R., Lakkunarajah, S., & Jay, M. S. (2021). Childhood and adolescentobesity: a review. Frontiers in Pediatrics, 8, 581461. doi.org/10.3389/fped.2020.581461

Nobari, T. Z., Whaley, S. E., Blumenberg, E., Prelip, M. L., & Wang, M. C. (2019). Severe housing-cost burden and obesity among preschool-aged low-income children in Los Angeles County. Preventive medicine reports, 13, 139-145.doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2018.12.003

Sanyaolu, A., Okorie, C., Qi, X., Locke, J., & Rehman, S. (2019). Childhood and adolescent obesity in the United States: a public health concern. Global pediatric health, 6, 2333794X19891305. doi.org/10.1177%2F2333794X19891305

Wyszyńska, J., Ring-Dimitriou, S., Thivel, D., Weghuber, D., Hadjipanayis, A., Grossman, Z., ... & Mazur, A. (2020). Physical activity in the prevention of childhood obesity: the position of the European childhood obesity group and the European academy of pediatrics. Frontiers in pediatrics, 662. doi.org/10.3389/fped.2020.535705