Introduction
Obesity is a world health issue on which there have been many debates and discussions by many eminent scientists and health professional. The current chapter will discuss and uphold the research and arguments by other researchers and their results. It will also describe the flaws in those researches and the ways to remove those flaws to address the current issue. The chapter will include the factors and their contribution to the issue in detail and the critical analysis of the issue based on study of different journals. The chapter will put light on the thoughts and ways of research, which were done earlier to check obesity.
Critically analysing the occurrence of obesity in Children in UK
In UK due to increased rate of obesity among young children there is increased of various other health problems related to obesity. According to the National Child Measurement Programme (2016), on an assessment of about one million school children in UK it was found that 19.8% of them falling within the age group of 6-11 and 14.8 % of them were overweight and posed an increased risk of becoming obese. In the age group of 4-5 years, 9.3 % of the total children assessed were obese and 12.8 % were at risk of becoming obese and are overweight (Noo.org.uk, 2016). The rates of obesity among children in UK within the age group of four to five have increased from 9.1% in 2014 to 9.3% in 2016 as per research done by our custom essay writing help service team.
Data related to the number of obese and overweight children in UK by 2016
(Source – Noo.org.uk, 2016).
According to a study the rate of obesity is more (12%) in children in regions were there more poverty and governmental deprivation and it is recorded less (5.7%) in areas where there less governmental deprivation (Content.digital.nhs.uk, 2016). Baldwin et al. (2016) said that obesity increases in areas where there is lack of awareness. Hence, Regions where there is governmental deprivation the citizens are not aware about the incoming epidemic by obesity. Thus, they are not changing their children’s habits accordingly. However, Atkinson et al. (2013) argued that it is not that all the least deprived regions in UK have a high incidence of obesity. The rate of obesity varies in between different regions and deprivation by Government is not the sole factor that governs this uneven distribution. the regions of UK in the South-East, South-West and East have a lower rate of obesity were as regions such as the West Midlands, London and North-East have a higher rate of obesity in children as per our statistics homework help team surveys.
Figure 3 – Rate of incidence of obesity in different regions in UK
(Source – Content.digital.nhs.uk, 2016)
Figure 4- Demographic data for incidence of obesity in different regions
(Source – ITV News, 2016)
The obesity prevalence in UK also varies between different regions it is not that there is an equal distribution of obesity in different regions. Such as Richmond in Southwest UK has a lower incidence of obesity were as Newham in London has a higher incidence of obesity (Content.digital.nhs.uk, 2016).
According to Carrol et al. (2014) obesity can vary among children based on the gender. In case of girls there is higher incidence of becoming obese were as boys can have a lesser risk of getting overweight. In support of this statement Godfrey et al. (2013) said that it can be inferred that may be boys are more exposed to physical activity than girls which puts them at lesser risk of becoming obese than a girl. In UK among the children aged five 25% of boys are obese and 33% girls are obese (Weightlossresources.co.uk, 2016).
Figure 5 – Percentage of obesity in different genders
(Source – Weightlossresources.co.uk, 2016)
Davidson et al. (2013) argued that gender could not be a sole determinant of the obesity in children. It may be that due to some biological reasons, boys have better BMR than girls but that does not put the boys out of risk of obesity. The rate of obesity also varies based on ignorance by parents, which is the most obvious reason of obesity in small children. Either the parents are not concerned about their children’s weight or they think that the weight of their children are correct are not interested in measuring their BMI (Wofenden and Wiggers, 2014). In UK 33% mothers and 57% fathers consider that their children are having a correct weight and are not overweight and even encourage their small children to consume processed feed (Weightlossresources.co.uk, 2016). McCarthy et al. (2013) suggested that such actions by parents are to make their children more accustomed to the outside world but they are unable to understand the health risks that they are pushing their children towards a life full of insecurities as per survey done by statistics homework help UK team.
Figure 6 – attitude of parents towards obesity
(Source – Weightlossresources.co.uk, 2016)
Flemming et al. (2013) in a study of obesity in UK stated that UK in comparison to all other countries of the European origin has a much higher rate of obesity in children. This may be due to ignorant parents or due to exposure to high sugar containing food in diet from a very young age. Germany and France in comparison to UK has a much lesser incidence of obesity (Yorkshirepost.co.uk, 2016). Popkin et al. (2012) in his journal about lower rate of obesity in France praised the French and said that the French people have different types of food rich in fat and sugar but they eat less of that food moreover they eat slowly leading to less consumption of the food.
Theories related to obesity
2.4.1 Physical theories
Obesity can be described as a situation were in the person has excess of body fat as compared to a normal individual. In children, the presence of obesity can be detected in the early stage of overweight conditions. Obesity results due to inefficient burning of the sugar and fat that is consumed. The excess sugar and fat is deposited in our body and leads an increase in body weight (Borys et al. 2012).
Three theories explain the occurrence of obesity. According Bucher et al. (2012) obesity is caused solely due to the overeating issues in a person. This theory followed by people make them inclined towards eating less as per research concluded by our human resource management homework help and survey experts However Charron et al. (2012) said that the first theory of obesity fails to explain the occurrence of obesity in persons who do not eat much still experience from obesity due to little eating. The second theory, also known as the pica theory of obesity explains that obesity in persons result due to unbalance diet. Some persons are unable to formulate a good diet chart, which is low in carbohydrate and fat and high in vitamins and antioxidants. This leads to higher intake of food with excess calories ultimately leading to obesity. Smith et al. (2013) argued with this theory and explained that in some cases persons try to avoid the sugar which in turn to satiate their hunger for sweets push them towards artificial sweeteners which in turn increase their inclination towards sweet more.
The last theory of obesity is in stark contrast to the other two theories and states that it does not depend on how much a person eats, a normal person can maintain a perfect body weight and still eat a lot. This depends on the environmental and some genetic factors of a person. It explains that every person has a threshold value of fat accumulation in his or her body based on their BMR but when the intake of fat exceeds the threshold level, it leads to obesity (Charron et al. 2012). The theories of obesity are all based on extensive study in different persons by calculating the BMI. BMI is the body mass index of a person and is a direct correlation between the body weight and height of a person as find out by our business management homework help team. It determines whether a person of a particular height has an appropriate body weight or not.
The mechanism behind obesity involves the accumulation of the fat under the adipose tissue of the body. The belly fat that is considered in diagnosis of obesity is the excess fat of the body that is deposited in the visceral region due to being semi-fluid in nature as per research done by our research paper writing help team in UK. This fat is not required by the body due to lack of physical activity and thus contributes to weight gain. (Refer to appendix 2)
Social and Psychological theories of obesity
Obesity may be a physical disorder but it every physical disease has it social impact. Obesity is not only accompanied by increase of weight it also encompasses increase of area in the visceral regions and lack of proper shape of the body. According to sociological perspective, obesity can be regarded as a physical as well as a psychological disorder. Roenneberg et al. (2012) said that obesity has been observed to be more prevalent in class of people belonging to the lower economic level. Obesity not only leads to physical disorders but due to the tendency of society to regard it as a stigma, it has a wider impact on the mind of a obese person.
In UK, it has been observed that obese children are 65% more at risk of being bullied. Dragone and Savorelli (2012) say that obesity is rather a social epidemic than a physical epidemic because the level of the seriousness of the disease is exaggerated by the hypocrite attitude of the society towards the obese people. According to Luheman (2012), functionalism theory of sociology describes that obesity is due to family issues were in the child experiences peer pressure resulting in depression and over eating. This leads to depression, which in turn is an enhancer of weight gain. Craib (2016) rejected this theory saying that it cannot be a proper theory to explain the social cause of obesity because families with proper parent attention and care still have children suffering from obesity.
Symbolic interaction theory states that social interaction is also a determinant of obesity because the social interaction of a child determines their eating habits and their other physical habits. Davidson et al. (2013) said that although social interaction can be regarded as a reason but it is the duty of the parents to make sure that a child has proper social interaction which will determine the proper character of the child as per humanities homework help survey and findings.
Another sociological theory of obesity is the conflict theory, which states that society is a group of different people, and all are interested in their own benefits, in this obesity is treated as a weakness that others use to gain their own benefits. Obesity is used as a commodity for many personnel’s and organisations for their own benefit thus more de-moralising an obese person (Ray et al. 2012).
On the other hand Gibson et al. (2012) said that obesity determines the character development in a child. According to the theories of Erikson and Freud, the character development in a child starts from the early years, this the early years are very crucial. Any mistreatment to the child in the early years will leave a deep scar in the character of the child. Based on the theory of Erikson, Woods et al. (2012) explained that in the early years a child learns to trust a person. If a child experiences repulsion from, the society just due to being obese will not develop the ability of the child to interact with people as suggested by humanities assignment help teams.
Karasu (2012) supported the theory and explained that in addition to this the child between the ages of 4-5 learns to be independent and have self-trust. If a child experiences bullying attitude and stigmatisation from the society then he/she will never be able to develop self-confidence and will always try to hide away from society. The sense of guilt also develops in a child in these years. If a child goes through psychological distress just due to being obese then they will develop a feeling of guilty, that they are nor perfect enough for the society, this is turn will lead to generation of a feeling of self-loathing in them.
Critical analysis of factors related to occurrence of obesity
Obesity is termed as an increase in the body weight due to excessive eating, but it is not that whenever someone eats excess a person will suffer from obesity. Obesity is determined by a variety of factors such as environmental and genetic factors. Genetic factors and rest contribute almost 70% of obesity by other environmental and physical factors. Obesity at the genetic level is due to polymorphism of several different genes, which may be directly linked or indirectly linked to digestion or fat and sugar metabolism in body (Powell et al. 2015).
Loos (2012) in his study on mouse models for obesity said that a lead reason for most common form of obesity is the imbalance of leptin and ghrelin enzyme. Leptin is an enzyme, which inhibits the sense of hunger, was as ghrelin is an enzyme, which enhances the feeling of hunger. In mouse with lep– gene, it has been observed that there is high advancement of obesity due to overeating tendency. In mouse with over expression of ghrelin gene, the tendency of obesity is also increased as found by survey done by linguistics homework help survey and research team.
Obesity is greatly influenced by genetics because in research it was found that cases were both the parents are obese 80% of the children are at risk of being obese were as 10% risk is in case of children whose parents are not obese. In case of a Prader-Wili syndrome, a rare genetic disorder, the child is constantly hungry and due to over eating turn to obesity. There are some genes present in our body called the “thrifty genes” which were required in ancient times to help in survival during crop failure but in recent times there is no such issue thus these genes happen to be a curse to us (Berk et al. 2012).
Bewick (2012) Argued that genetic factor cannot be the only physical reason for obesity in a child. In today’s world, the children after being born suffer from numerous health problems. This may be carried on by gene. The hormonal problem such as disorders in expression of thyroid hormone and other female hormones puts the children at risk of becoming obese such as children with Cushing’s syndrome and hypothyroidism. In some children there is a condition called insulin resistance due to insulin defective gene present. It may be a heterozygous recessive defect but the improper diet makes the other gene also non-functional leading to obesity. In mouse models with altered insulin gene ins– ins+ combination of mouse were overweight due to one non-functional gene but when both the genes are non-functional the starch taken in is not converted to glucose thus getting stored as per statistics case study assignment help provided by our experts. The second mutation in the gene may be due to heavy intake of starchy foods, which puts pressure on the single gene (Hardy et al. 2012).
Roberts et al. (2012) said that although genetics may play an important role in obesity but apart from the genetic reasons the now occurring obesity is solely due to lack of exercise. In the current lifestyle of people, the calories that are taken in are more than the calories that are burnt. Children are not involved in playing outdoors and are more inclined towards playing games on play-station and video games which in turn creates imbalance in their energy ratio adding up to obesity. Children become more prone to intake of food with saturated fat such as fried foods, chips and aerated drinks. These foods do not have any nutritious value; they just have taste and are unhealthy.
Harrold et al. (2012) stated that the emerging business of unhealthy foods attract more children leading to their weight gain. The companies are directly responsible for the obesity issue because their attractive advertisements seek the attention of the innocent children who do not understand the bad effects of unhealthy habits. The saturated fats in these foods gets deposited under the adipose tissue owing to obesity as per services provided by do my strategic homework help researchers. The changing environment around us is also responsible for the lack of physical activity in children. the recent development in industry has led to reduction in the number of parks and side-walks which reduced the tendency of children to go out in the park and play (Kleinert and Horton., 2015). Sedentary snacking is a term used by physicians which relates to eating by watching T.V, this leads to improper digestion in children and hence accumulation of fat. Obesity in small children can be also attributed to the tendency of eating in large amounts and the increased frequency of eating out in families (CDC, 2016).
Hossini et al. (2012) said that although others may be responsible for obesity of a child but a mother should play their role in taking responsibility of their child’s health. Obesity in children under the age of five has been seen to have direct relation to their lack of breastfeeding. It has been observed that children who are breast feed have a lesser risk of being exposed to obesity as compared to children without breast-feeding. Breastfeeding prevents frequent eating habits in children and protects them from early exposure to processed food at an early age. Such issues give rise to obesity in children. In a study by WHO (2016) on breast feeding mothers and children it was found that breast feeding for more than seven months reduced chances of obesity in children significantly and breastfeeding for less than three months decreased the risk by 10%. Apart from breastfeeding, Ward et al. (2013) explained that women who have smoking habits and women suffering from diabetes give birth to children who are at a higher risk of becoming obese.
He said that social factors are strong pillar of obesity. Social factors such as mental depression in children due to family issues or due to incompatibility between family members may lead to stress. Stress in children pushes them to over eating which in turn causes obesity. It has been proved that stress also decreases the rate of digestion of fat leading fat deposition and weight gain. Earlier it has been Pelone et al. (2012) said that other than that observation in areas which are economically weak has suggested that they suffer more form obesity. This may be due to their tendency to buy cheap food rich in fat and sugar, which will give them energy. However, this is not true and the calorie, which is not used, gets stored as per our Biology Homework Help Experts.
Impact of factors related to occurrence of obesity
As said by Johnson et al. (2013) any epidemic may it be social, physical or psychological will have it effect on different aspect of a society. Obesity among young children will lead different complications in them such as increased rate of blood pressure, high incidence of diabetes mellitus and coronary diseases. In addition, there are other problems, which are arising due to obesity such as atherosclerosis, cysts in ovary, fatal digestive problems and high incidence of cancer in such obese children.
Children with obesity develop type 2 diabetes at a very early stage of their life. McCarthy et al. (2012) explained that Diabetes type 2 prevalence for a long time in their sometimes forces them to be administered with insulin at an age when they have not yet crossed adolescence. Bewick (2012) supported the fact about diabetes and said that girls especially rather than boys suffer from hormonal problem due to obesity owing to diabetes. In a study, it was seen that due to obesity there was high rate of female hormones, which in turn leads to higher risk of breast and ovarian cancer (Refer to appendix 3).
The children due to obesity suffer from hormonal imbalance, which not only leads to metabolic disorders but also pushes the children to early puberty. Young girls due to obesity experience menstrual complications, which may lead to formation of fibroids in the uterus. Due to excessive fat present the digestive enzymes do not function properly resulting in non-alcoholic fatty liver like symptoms in children (Davies et al. 2013). The children due to obesity suffer from early formation of stones in gall bladder due to inefficient digestion. Early emergence of diabetes mellitus also increases the risk of heart attack in children along with making them immune-compromised. Obese children have been seen to have higher rate of suffering from asthma, this may be due to their immune-compromised state or their hormonal imbalance (Himes and Reynolds, 2012). Lear et al. (2013) said that sleep is an important aspect of growth for children. During sleep a child grows, improper sleep leads to physical disorders. Children with obesity suffer from sleep apnea, which affect their mental and physical development.
Ogden (2016) argued that obesity in children is not limited to the physical impact but also it has branched out its effect into the social and psychological field. The society makes target of obese children as a result of stigmatisation of obesity by society. Bishop et al. (2013) stated that the hypocrite mindset of the society regarding the definition of beauty compels such behaviour from the society. This makes obese children more prone to loss to self-confidence and puts them into depression. The children suffer from social exclusion and are not able to interact properly thus leading to improper character development in the children. They also develop a feeling of self-loathing were in they feel that they are not good enough with respect to other people and hence lack the self- esteem. Due to their physical weight gain, obese children are not much active as compared to normal children. This decreases their self-esteem more and also makes them a topic of fun among their friends and society. They also suffer from increased anxiety, which in turn takes a toll on their psychology (Sarwer and Dilks, 2012). (Refer to appendix 4)
Government legislations and policies
The government of UK has identified the plausible reasons for the higher incidence of obesity in children. The government has formulated policies to industry levy charges to the soft drinks, this increasing their price and reducing their frequent buying and consumption by children. The government has focussed on the sugar content of a product and has decided to cut off 20% sugar content from all foods that are being sold. The government has also devised policies and instructed every food industry to make foods that are healthier rather than tastier. The government has also decided to share cost and invest in industry to encourage them in making more healthy food. The government has made policies to make physical activity compulsory in schools to make children healthier. There are also policies made to decrease the amount of sugar and fat in food served in schools. They have also made strict legislations regarding rating a school based on its level of physical activity and the food that a school is providing. The industries involved in food processing in UK have been strictly advised to have clear definition of the foods in the label of the packet and not to misguide the customers based on the nutritious content of the food (Dowler and O’Connor, 2012).
Apart from the UK, government the WHO has also made efforts in curbing the rate of increase in obesity among children. The organisation has invested a lot in health upliftment and also monitors the growing obesity in certain regions and tries to have a check on them. They have made plans to advise every paediatrician to encourage every patient visiting them to make them understand the importance of health and plan a diet chart or every child from the day they are born until the age of five. WHO has plans to set up camps in schools to determine the average obesity in the regions and to make the parents have a full knowledge about the negative effects of obesity. They have also devised policies for parent counselling in schools to make advice parents regarding the benefits of a healthy diet along with physical exercise for the benefit of a child (Moodie et al. 2015).
Interventions and implementations
The UK government has made many policies to control the growing risk of obesity but as said by only formulation of policies does not mean that the issue has been checked. For proper checking and resolving an issue, a policy needs to be properly implemented by governmental as well as non-governmental intervention. Although the UK government has increased, levy charges on the soft drinks but this has not stopped children or their parents from buying the drinks. There has been a reduction but still the danger of obesity is prevalent due to buying of the product by the people. Thus, according to Elks et al. (2012), cost increase of a product can never be an option for discouragement of the buying of the product.
The policies based on products of a company have increased the nutritious component of some food but some tests reveal that some food companies have not followed the policy. The strict rule imposed on the companies does not mean that the companies will always follow the rules and enhance the nutrition of a food. Unless the government checks periodically, each product there will not be proper implementation of the policies. There has been good implementation of the policies for enhancement of physical activity in school as this has also encouraged children to be interested in different forms of sports. Based on the results it was seen that policy of compulsory physical activity in school has lead to greater drop in obesity among small children. The counselling of parents is also an effective approach. As said by Favalli et al. (2013) people follow the rules only when they are afraid of any impending harm. The policy by WHO has made parents believe the harmful effects of weight gain and has led them to act in a more responsible manner towards their children’s healthy habits.
2.9 Gap analysis
The literature review done in this chapter is focussed mainly on the physical, social and psychological causes and impacts of obesity. The gap in research that is present in all the literatures that has been done here is there lack of link between each factor. Obesity cannot be defined by a single cause, it has several causes and each of the reasons and factors are interlinked and interdependent. The study that has been done earlier does not describe the interdependence of each of the factors. Unless each of the factors role in obesity is clearly defined all the pathogenesis of obesity cannot be fully understood. The researchers should have linked the psychological reasons of obesity to the physiological reasons. The ways in which the mental conditions are affecting the physical functioning of body are not included in the previous studies. Moreover the method of determination of obesity in all of the prior studies were solely based on the BMI of the person, but it is not a correct measurement as some persons have increased bone weight with respect to their height.
This research has focussed upon the interrelationship between all the factors of obesity and has also discussed the cooperative nature of the factors causing obesity. The research has not only used BMI but apart from that has also used the technique of measurement of visceral fat for diagnosing obesity in a person.
2.10 Summary
This chapter illustrates the various researchers done on obesity previously and their result. It explains the impact and causes of obesity with data and figures along with critical analysis of all the theories of obesity. The chapter describes the anti-obesity policies by the government and the rate of effectively of the policies. It finally pints out the gaps in the previous researches and how those gaps are addressed in the current research.
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