#17 Aaron Dupont (speech)

Look around next time you go to school. Look around when you go to the mall next time. You will witness what is becoming popular for children. You will notice something that is becoming an epidemic for kids around America. Childhood obesity is starting to become a problem of epidemic proportions in America.

                 “America, 100 Percent Fat” is an article, which states that children of this current generation are predicted to die at a younger age than their parents. This is a first. “In just two decades, the prevalence of obesity doubled for U.S. children ages 6 to 11- and tripled for American teenagers" says the Mayo Clinic. Most sources agree that about 10-20 percent of children in the United States are obese. When researching this topic the major causes of childhood obesity in the United States have become very clear. The two major culprits of childhood obesity are not enough exercise and eating too much.

                We’ll start by discussing how eating too much contributes to childhood obesity. Energy imbalance is a key factor. This can be defined as “when the number of calories consumed is not equal to the number of calories used".  Children in America are eating a lot of unhealthy foods and aren't doing enough to get rid of the extra calories. MSNBC.com, says that about half of parents in the United States say they don't have the time to cook meals at home, so they go eat fast food, which are usually very high in calories and are filled with sugar, fats, and sodium. A recent study by CBS news uncovered that every day about 33% of children in the United States between the ages of 4-19 consume fast food.  Scientists estimate that this adds on 6lbs per child every year. Another finding was that kids who ate fast food on a consistent basis consumed almost 200 more calories every day than children who did not eat fast food regularly. Kids look at their parents as role models for their eating habits. We've all seen the family in the restaurant with the parents sternly telling their kid to finish their plate. Portion sizes are increasing over the past couple of years. Lisa Drayer, a dietician, says that people in the United States are using a "more is better" mentality, because restaurants are making food portions bigger and bigger.  Portion sizes are increasing tremendously. For example, a normal sized soda was about 7 ounces in the 1950's but the average soda in 2003 is between 12-64 ounces. Baylor College conducted a study in which they served meals of macaroni and cheese to two groups of pre-school students, one group got a normal-sized portion of mac and cheese while the other group got twice the amount the first group got. Findings of the study showed that children ate 25% more of the food when they got the larger serving. The study showed that kids will eat more when they are given a larger portion. The university of Michigan conducted a study that showed that children snacked more when they were put in larger group settings. The combination of increased portion sizes and eating in large groups is a major contributor to childhood obesity.  What we eat isn't everything, one of the biggest factors in weight gain or weight loss is a good balance of exercise and diet.  

                Another major contributor to childhood obesity is too little exercise. Inactive lifestyles have become a problem of epidemic proportions and have led to excess fat on many people's bodies. Kids eat more calories than they can burn. This leads to children gaining mass amounts of weight. Take a look around when you’re driving around a neighborhood. How many kids do you see playing outside? Very few- I rarely see kids playing outside.  When I was younger before we had all these electronic devices I would go home a play with the other kids in my neighborhood instead of sitting on my couch in front of my TV. Instead of playing outside or playing sports kids would rather spend their whole day on their computer or in front of the TV. A former surgeon Richard Carmona says that kids in America spend an average of four hours a day on these kinds of activities. Kids in America spend a quarter of the year gawking at a TV or computer screen. This needs to change.  The more they watch TV means less time spent playing sports or other physical activities. Children are burning the calories they take in when engaging in these sedentary activities. Penn State Researcher Lori Francis says that watching TV while eating causes interference with the body's natural cues of telling the brain that it is full. This is what causes many kids to overeat and in turn become obese.

                  In conclusion, eating too much and exercising too little are the main causes of childhood obesity in America. Look and around the next time you go somewhere. We need to promote to children that what they are doing is wrong. Maybe together we can make a difference for a healthier America. If the current generation of children is healthier then they will live longer and more fulfilling lives. Thank you.