Obesity in children-long term effects Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Obesity in children-long term effects - Essay Example tioned earlier, the effects of obesity are dichotomized into â€Å"immediate† and â€Å"Long-term† effects therefore, the prime focus of this prose is to assess both the long-term and immediate effects of obesity that will be discussed one by one in the following text. Obesity exposes the child to higher risk of suffering from a cardiovascular disease and are also more susceptible to prediabetes; a condition characterized by high blood-glucose level that may develop into diabetes in later parts of their lives. (Kiess, et.al. 2004) Children suffering from obesity often experience chronic pain in their limbs, back and joints because of relatively high weight than their heights and age. Obesity also exposes the child to social and psychological repercussions that causes the child to feel socially stigmatized and have lower self-esteem. On the other hand, researches have also discovered that individuals who suffer from obesity in their childhood are likely to suffer from it in their adulthood. Therefore, the individuals are exposed to all the health risk factors outlined earlier and obesity is also associated with many types of cancer. (CDC, 2011) High fat level in the body exposes the individual to cancer of the breast, colon, cervix, gall bladder, kidney and thyroid. The stress on the joints and bones can cause significant amount of distress to the individual and it also leads to respiratory problems and sleep apnea the latter is associated with high blood pressure. The additional weight adds pressure on the chest wall and lungs that causes the child to have trouble breathing resulting in troubled sleep during the night and sleepiness during the day. Due to fatigue and joint pain the individual is unable to partake in physically challenging activities and may lead to even more fat deposition in the child. (CDC, 2011) It is evident that obesity affects every individual regardless of age however, in children the problems may be more pronounced because the child