An increasing number of children are overweight which could result many problems when they grow older both in terms of their health and health care costs. Why do you think so many children are overweight? What could be done to solve this problem?

 


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MODEL ANSWER | BAND 8.0

Nowadays, more and more children are becoming obese and this could have detrimental effects on them when they become older. This essay will outline some reasons for this trend and suggest some solutions.

To begin with, obesity amongst children can be attributed to two factors – junk foods and lack of exercise. Children love eating junk foods but unfortunately they are not healthy. The reason for this is that junk foods are full of bad ingredients such as lipids and high amounts of sugar. For example, a 2010 survey in Australia found that 90% of juvenile obesity was a result of eating unhealthy foods from fast food chains. This clearly indicates that junk foods are the main cause of juvenile obesity. Lack of exercise is another reason for their obesity because it leads to the accumulation of harmful substances such as saturated fats in their bodies. So eating unhealthy foods and leading a sedentary life are the core reasons for children being overweight.

On the bright side, this issue can be tackled in many ways. First of all, governments should regulate the fast food industry by limiting the amounts of harmful ingredients they use in junk foods and also by imposing sweeping taxes on them to discourage them from spreading. Also, governments can encourage businesses to invest in restaurants which serve healthy foods by reducing taxes for them. Here is a case in study. In 2013, the Japanese government imposed skyrocketing taxes on fast food chains and reduced taxes for restaurants which serve healthy foods, and these measures resulted in a significant decrease in childhood obesity in Japan. Furthermore, parents should also try to encourage their children to eat home cooked foods because they are healthier.

To sum up, childhood obesity is increasing alarmingly and this could complicate their lives in the future. This essay outlined some reason for this kind of obesity and offered some solutions.

McBrown