Imagine being a parent who is sitting at the side of the hospital bed of your kid, the child is there not because of a broken bone or a common cold: the child is there because he is too overweight, and it’s affecting their health. Reading that, one might think that there's no way that could apply to the general population. Well, it’s not a rare occurrence, as 14 million children in the United States of America suffer from obesity. Obesity numbers across all demographics have skyrocketed within the last few decades. Sometimes obesity could be unavoidable, with genetics coming into play. Whether it’s genetics, parenting, portion sizes, or sedentary lifestyles, obesity is killing America. 

Obesity doesn't only affect the nation's adults. Obesity is a disease that isn't exclusive, it can happen to anyone and everyone if they're not careful of their daily habits. It begins in early childhood and throughout adolescence. “Around 55% of obese children go on to be obese in adolescence, around 80% of obese adolescents will still be obese in adulthood and around 70% will be obese over age 30. Therefore, action to reduce and prevent obesity in these adolescents is needed,” (Simmonds). Obesity can be a lifelong disease that can be easily prevented as well. Through diets and daily exercise or somewhat of an active lifestyle this pandemic can be stopped in its tracks in the early stages of development. However, it's not only the fault of the child, in most cases, children can be at risk because of their parents. “A child with one obese parent has a 50 percent chance of being obese. When both parents are obese, their children have an 80 percent chance of obesity,”(Obesity in children). Due to the predisposition of the parents, the children have a significant increase in their odds of developing obesity. Genetic disadvantage is a big player in the spread of obesity.

Another heavy contributor to the growth in obesity numbers across America is varying parenting styles. One in specific is a neglectful style of parenting, and the children of these parents are at a grand disadvantage. A study showed that children aged 2-5 years old who have strict parents who don’t show much affection are thirty percent more likely to grow to be obese as compared to their peers who have strong, healthy relationships with their parents, (Blaszczak). Without supervision, kids can have a hard time telling right from wrong, especially with their diet. Another parenting style that can gravely impact a child’s weight is the authoritarian style. Authoritarian parents, “often fail to explain to their kids the rationale behind a punishment… This lack of explanation makes it hard to regulate their own behavior, including their choices of what to eat,” (Blaszczak). If parents don’t give reasons for punishments, children get used to this dynamic of not being punished for their choices, which leads to them to eat without any percussions. Varying parenting styles can have a profound impact on a child’s weight gain.

Although lenient parenting is partially to blame, the government and society we live in have led to this pandemic. The amount of food we are consuming has unknowingly increased in recent history. “Her findings clearly showed that portion sizes of many such foods increased since the mid-1980s and, consequently, increased in calories,” (Nestle). The increase in portion sizes is something us citizens can't control. Whether the motive is to make more money or to make more food, the increase in portion size directly affects the high population of obese citizens. The portion sizes are not always related to fast food or restaurants as some of the foods at the store can be misleading as well. ‘By this, they mean that researchers can fail to recognize that the amounts people consume can be larger--sometimes much larger--than the portion sizes indicated on food labels, dietary guidance materials, or food frequency questionnaires,” (Obesity Effects on Child Health - StatPearls). The labels themselves can be off or misleading which can mean one may be consuming more calories than they realize. Marketing of the food also has shown a direct effect on the amount of food eaten. As referenced, “and food marketers use larger portions as a way to draw in customers, regardless of the effects of the added calories on body weights. Thus, food marketers are acutely sensitive to trends in eating patterns,” (Nestle).  The development of these advertisements created an unhealthy fixation on fast food and created a dangerous habit of these unhealthy foods. Portion sizes have a profound impact on the increase in the obese population of our nation. 

Lastly, a big factor in America’s sudden increase in obesity numbers is the sedentary lifestyles that people live. The word sedentary in this case means lacking physical activity, so things like laying down a lot, playing video games, and not doing things that are productive basically. This lack of activity can intensely increase someone's likeliness of being obese. Deaths which are caused by poor diet and lack of physical activity are increasing at such a rapid rate that if they continue down this path, they could overtake deaths caused by smoking, as found in a study done at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Greene). The pure fact that just lack of physical activity could potentially be more of a threat to someone's health than smoking tells you all you need to know about the obesity pandemic. These studies that link obesity with all kinds of diseases are not false, and in fact point out life-threatening diseases directly linked to obesity. “ ‘The most rapidly increasing problem we have is the combined problem of sedentary lifestyles and poor diet choices,’ said Dr. J. Michael McGinnis, who wrote an editorial about the study, both published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. ‘These chronic diseases - heart disease, cancer and stroke - aren't just inevitable consequences of the aging process. They don't just happen,’ ” (Greene). Obesity leading to all these terrible diseases needs to be recognized like it is with other problems among society like smoking. It’s time we accept that obesity is a significant problem and a threat to anyone’s general health.

Obesity in America is a serious rising issue hiding among others. Rates continue to increase and don’t show any sort of signs of decreasing. People who live sedentarily, have certain types of parents, or just simply eat too much without exercising are at a grand disadvantage when it comes to their chances of becoming obese. Obesity is a killer, as it can lead to countless amounts of health issues, and as studies show, obesity’s death tally is on pace to pass deaths caused by smoking. We need to realize that obesity is just as large of a problem as any other general health issue.