Childhood Obesity--Is it Caused by Poverty?

Childhood obesity is a growing problem in the United States, larger than most people imagine. It is increasingly becoming an issue for a variety of reasons. It is certainly not hard to find proof that the numbers of obese children are rising, even by just looking around at one's own environment. According to an article called Obesity and Poverty,

"Twenty years ago, 5 percent of American children were overweight. Today, 15 percent are, and another 15 percent are headed that way. Even very young children weigh more than they should with about 8 percent of all preschoolers considered overweight. Nearly double the number of children between ages 6 to 11 are overweight (Seninger and Herling 9).

From here, the statistics do not get any brighter. Another study from the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion states that

"A dramatic rise in overweight children has occurred over the last 30 years.: 11% of all children aged 6 to 18 years were overweight in the latest National Health and nutrition Examination Survey (NHAWES) conducted from 1988 through 1994, compared to 4.3% from the first survey conducted from 1963 to 1970 (Trojano and Flegal 1998).

A researcher named Montague goes so far as to say that the number of overweight children has increased by 50% in only the last two decades (Montague). Obviously childhood obesity must be stopped or at least slowed down because of the disastrous effects it produces. For example, childhood obesity can lead to diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, hypertension, sleep apnea, low self esteem and discrimination only to name a few.

There are many reasons for childhood obesity; one of which is poverty. Income level significantly impacts childhood obesity in a variety of ways. First of all, poverty produces food insecurity. Food insecurity basically happens when children do not have access or have limited access to nutritionally sound foods.

According to national figures from the USDA in 1999, 36.2