An Analysis of the Role of Urban Living in Childhood Obesity

Urban areas are the main cause in obesity among children

"Childhood obesity issue is critically important to me because it's critically important to

the health and success of our kids, and of this nation, ultimately."

Michelle Obama

we have seen a rise in the number of overweight children is one of the biggest problems of the 21st century. This is visible in city areas. Putting on weight at an early age will invite a large number of problems in their personal life and also in society.

It is an arguable debate that urbanization is the main cause of obesity in childhood because of a lack of physical exercise due to the shortage space, consumption of unhealthy food and the influence of food advertisements on children. This is an alarming situation, which should be controlled at its earliest.

The most important for this change is the lack of physical exercise. Due to urbanization, playgrounds and open spaces vanished. As a result, young ones are left with no opportunity to play outdoors.

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As a consequence, they remain indoors playing computer games and watching television which in turn lead to severe problems like obesity and diabetics. According to Mathew P. White, the individuals living in urban areas with more green space tend to have reduced levels of stress and better well-being compared to those with poorer availability of green space (2013)

However, as per the study, it was determined that 26-41% of obese pre-school children and 42- 63% of overweight school children were obese as adults (Bereket, A, 2012).

Students long studying hours and burden of their heavy curriculum on the computers, playing games on computers, chatting and serving on computer children have led to the shortage of outdoor activities that lead children to obesity, mental stress and also an indicator of poor physical health.

Due to rapid urbanization, there has been an increase in diets that are more plentiful in sugar and salt, therefore, leading to an increase in the consumption of unhealthy food in metropolitan areas. (WHO, n. d.) There is a rapid increase in consumption of fast food items like hamburgers, pizza and beverages like Coca-Cola and Pepsi among children living in metropolitan, which contain high sugar calories and artificial ingredients that can lead to obesity (Yale Rudd Centre, 2013). The fast-food restaurants are accessible, affordable and time saving for the working parents.

The parents are giving too much freedom and money to children what they spent carelessly on the junk food and vending machine snacks. An additional aspect of this claim is the children living in developing cities are influenced by the advertisement of fast food products. The advertiser and fast food companies make their advertisements to influence the children by using toys and cartoons on their products. The fast- food companies are spending billions of dollars on the advertisement to attract children (Weber, 2019).

Consequently, children influence their parents to buy these unhealthy foods contains high sugar and high-fat foods. Urbanization is not the only cause of child obesity. The study states that people living in rural America are more likely to suffer from obesity than those living in cities (Purdy, 2018). First and foremost, there are other factors of child obesity are the biological factors like Genetics and hormones, food availability and the addition of food. Children of obese parents have inherited genes from their parents that make their bodies gain weight easily.

According to genome-wide association studies have successfully revealed a variety of genetic loci associated with the more common form of obesity (Bereket & Atay, 2012). The availability of organic and natural food is getting expensive on the other side the unhealthy food is taking over the market by reducing the cost. The fast-food restaurants displaying their products in a tempting way that the children get attracted to. The restaurants provide lucrative offers and provide free supply in the nearby areas.

Children are unable to stop them from junk food and processed food that leads to obesity. As per researchers, processed foods and junk food are addictive drugs. (Renter, 2013). Food addiction is an issue that can be difficult to overcome. When children addicted to fast food they lost their freedom of choice as they are influenced by the advertisements. Finally, in conclusion, the children are getting obese by the urbanization lifestyle by running out space and consuming unhealthy diets and the influence done by the advertisers. The society and the government should take the responsibility and do the measures on the childhood obesity in urbanization world.