Childhood Obesity and Diabetes

The definition of diabetes is a group of  diseases that produces too much sugar in the blood or too high blood glucose.  Their are two types of diabetes, type 1 and type 2. type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes (ADA,2016). 1.4 million Americans are diagnosed with diabetes every year. Type 2 diabetes is most often develop in middle-aged and older adults but can appear in young people (ADA, 2016). in this section of health stressor it will be focusing on type 2 diabetes.

Treatments

• Type 2 diabetes is treated with lifestyle changes, oral medications (pills), and insulin
• controlling meal planning
• weight loss and exercising
• some other treatments type 2 diabetic people can take is aspirin, flu shots, and dietary supplements

Diabetes Symptoms

Common symptoms of diabetes are:

• feeling very thirsty
• blurry vision
• urinating often
• feeling very hungry
• tingling pains, or numbness in the hands/feet

Social stressors refer to the hardships that occur because of interactions within their interpersonal/social networks. The social stressors of childhood obesity are bullying in school and parents and family members ridiculing a child for their obesity. Social stressors are common and occur when a person is exposed to certain stressors. Adolescents may be particularly vulnerable to their deleterious effects on health and childhood obesity goes into adolescences. Adulterant is a period of development associated with the desire for more independence from family that can lead to conflict. Desire for acceptance from peers can lead to significant social pressure. It is also a period in which the brain is still developing and attitudes about food and coping behaviors are being processed( University of Houston. n.d.).

The psychological stressors of obese children are depression and low self-esteem. Depression commonly occurs because of the feeling of guilt and shame. An experiment conducted in 2008 to study the relationship between obesity and depression reports that the reason for depression of obese children is feelings of guilt, self-blame, and failure (Reeves, 2008). Obesity usually is associated with a negative self-image, and it is affected by cultural factors (Reeves, 2008).  Also, the risk of committing suicide among obese children is higher than non-obese children due to experience of bullying (Stevelos,2010).

According to the CDC (2015), the health stressor of being an obese child is an increased risk of breathing problems such as sleep apnea and asthma, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Moreover, according to the CDC, children who are obese have a much higher risk to be obese as adults (CDC, 2015). Type 2 diabetes commonly occurs because obesity can cause resistance to insulin, and decrease the regulation of blood sugar. So, the blood sugar becomes elevated if a child is overweight. Thus, it’s increasing the risk of diabetes. (CDC, 2015)

Other Health Stressors are

• High blood pressure and high cholesterol, which are risk factors for cardiovascular disease
• Joint problems and musculoskeletal discomfort
• Fatty liver disease, gallstones and gastro-esophageal reflux ( heartburn)
• Obese children and adolescents have a greater risk of social and psychological problems, such as discrimination and poor self-esteem, which can continue into adulthood

Health Risks Later

• Obese children are more likely to become obese adults. Adult obesity is associated with a number of serious health conditions including heart disease, diabetes and some cancers
• If children are overweight, obesity in adulthood is likely to be more severe

Child obesity has become a distinct issue amongst youth in the U.S. Obesity in children; overweight is defined as a BMI at the 85th percentile and below the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex. Obesity is defined as a BMI at or above the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex. According to the CDC (2015), childhood obesity has more than doubled in the past 30 years. The obesity rate in children ages 6-11 in the U.S. increased from 7% in 1980 to 18% in 2012 (CDC, 2015). On average, 25% of children in ethnic groups such as African American, Hispanic, and American Indians are overweight. This means, that in 2012, more than 1/3 of children were overweight. In this paper, we intend to discuss the issue of childhood obesity and how we can prevent this at the individual and community-based level.