EDUA 5547 Preventing Childhood Obesity
PREVENTING CHILDHOOD OBESITY
Over thirty percent of American children are overweight or obese, a startling statistic that has tripled in the course of a single generation . This staggering epidemic causes lasting physical and psychological impacts, as childhood obesity often leads to adult obesity. Teachers can play a major role in the prevention of childhood obesity by educating children on healthy habits, promoting healthier eating, and advocating for their students’ health in the school and at home.
This course will explain the growing number of obese youth due to changes in food patterns, food availability, and decreased exercise in and out of schools. Furthermore, this course will reveal the long-term physical, psychological, and social problems that overweight children may endure so that the teacher can better assess and support the root causes of a child’s obesity. The teacher will learn about the magnitude of this rapidly growing problem, its underlying causes, the lifelong effects on obese children, and finally, suggestions for how to fight back before this epidemic spirals out of control.