A Bomb Fueled by Habits in Pennsylvania

A Bomb Fueled by Habits in Pennsylvania

How many obese or overweight children do you think are in Pennsylvania? 1,000 children, 2,000 children? Not even close. The number of children in Pennsylvania is around 726,000. That is 26.5% of children in Pennsylvania that are overweight or obese. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that being obese as a child makes that person more vulnerable to diseases like cardiovascular disease, and more obese as an adult. Childrens’ physical activity is influenced by the rolemodel set by their parents. Are the parents physically active or inactive? To prevent this, we can start eating healthier foods, and exercise daily for at least 60 minutes.

The most common causes of death are heart disease and cancer. These diseases can all develop through obesity as a child or as an adult. Children who are obese also have a higher chance to get bone and joint problems and poor self esteem. This results from caloric imbalance, or more calories obtained than eaten. But how can you trust these health enthusiasts’ words? I actually looked up some organizations, and found that the information was legitimate. Childhood obesity is like a bomb that will have to take time to defuse. Basically, this is a problem that cannot be resolved right away, but overtime we can make it better.

More than 530 schools in Pennsylvania have joined the Alliance for a Healthier Generations Healthy School Program. With the help of the Healthy Schools Program, Pennsylvania and its schools can be better, more healthy, and physically active. This program is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). On their website, RWJF states that “for more than 40 years the RWJF has been working on the health of Americans.” They also donated $500 million to fight the childhood obesity epidemic in America. Doing that shows how serious they are about childhood obesity.

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