You and The World: Teenage Obesity Blog Post #1

         Hello readers! My name is Liza Cohen and I am a student at Science Leadership Academy. I am writing this blog post to inform you and everyone else about teenage obesity, why it is important, the effect it has on us, and how we can prevent it from happening.

            The topic that I want people to become more aware about is child obesity. Whether it is a young toddler, growing child, or teenager; this problem has continued to full extent. The percent of overweight children has increased since the 1970's. The age range for obesity is ranged around 6 to 17 year olds. That is a wide variety of children, which more than 1 out of 5 are struggling with this issue. Small things like lacking of exercise and a poor diet can cause obesity. To elaborate on the numbers, I want to compare obesity then to how it is now. In the 1900’s, obesity was less of an issue than it is now. In fact, in the 1900’s being stood out for being overweight was a good thing. I say this because when you were seen overweight, it meant you had wealth, to afford food. However, things are the complete opposite now. Obesity for anyone, especially teenagers is an issue. There are medical, physical, and emotional problems all due to being obese. Just because the causes and perspectives on obesity has changed, doesn’t make it less important now as it was then.

            A lot of you might be curious on what exactly is obesity. Mind you, gaining a few extra pounds here and there is not considered obesity. Gaining weight and being overweight is not considered obesity until the person their weight is over 10% of what their proper weight should be for their age and height. Obesity is just a stronger more serious word for being overweight. There is almost an unlimited amount of proof to show that this issue needs to be put to a stop.

            Now that you know what exactly obesity is, and how big of a role it plays in people’s lives, I want to inform you on why I care particularly about this topic. This world issue is important to me because it is an issue that I am constantly surrounded by. I have gotten to the point where I feel I should look more into this issue and see what I can do to prevent it from happening continuously. Another reason why this issue is important to me is because I personally can relate to it. I am not overweight, or even on the road to obesity. However, I am very cautious of my body and how I can keep my body in good shape. If I learn more about obesity I can help others and even myself from letting it happening to us. 

In my upcoming blog posts, you will get a bigger taste on my perspective on teenage obesity and how I can prevent it from happening!

Click to this link if you want to read my bibliography and information on how important teenage obesity really is!

This is a picture of the overweight and obese people in several countries. This image is important because it shows that obesity reflects on more than one audience. I wanted to reach out and show you that whoever is reading this, obesity can effect you too, wherever you are in the world.