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CHILDHOOD OBESITY. Definitions and Causes

Definition: It is a serious medical problem that affects children and adolescents. When a child is above normal weight for their height and age, obesity occurs. Childhood obesity can lead to many health problems such as: diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol.

Causes: Childhood obesity can be genetic or hormonal. Although, it is mostly caused by children exercising too little and eating too much. Children need nutrients and calories to help their growth and development. So if they get too many calories they will weigh more than what they need to support their growing bodies. Some diseases such as Prader-Willi syndrome and Cushing's syndrome can cause childhood obesity but it is mostly caused by eating and exercise habits.

Risk Factors: There are many risks in being obese. When a child seems to always be hungry, that is one type of risk factor. These are some of the other risk factors:

Diet: Always consuming high calorie food, such as cakes, fast food, and snacks. Foods high in fat have many calories. Candy, desserts, and soft drinks also cause major weight gain for children. These types of foods are high in calories and sugars.

Family Factors: Most parents are responsible for what their children consume. You don't usually see a child shopping for their family's groceries. Parents or family members can't blame their children for eating a lot of sugary, salty, fatty foods. Parents can control the access of the children getting the food.

Genetics: If your child is from an overweight family, the child has a better chance in being overweight too. That will gain excess weight, especially in an environment where getting fatty foods is very easy.

Inactivity: Kids that sit at home and watch television or play video games have a tough time burning calories. They don’t play sports or any physical activity.

Socioeconomic factors: Children that come from a low income family have a higher risk in becoming obese. The parents don’t have time to make sure the children have a healthy diet.

When to Seek Medical Advice

Not every kid that has a few excess pounds is overweight or obese. They just have a larger body frame. Children usually carry different amounts of weight through the stages of development. So most parents don’t know if your child’s weight is a health concern.

If you are worried that your child has a chance of weight problems, go to the doctor. Also, try talking to your child about it. Your health care provider can take your child through a weight assessment. Going through your child’s individual history of growth and development, also going through the family’s history of height-weight

The Complications of Childhood Obesity

Obese children are at high risk of getting serious health problems that normally carry over to adulthood. These risks include: Type 2 diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome, High blood pressure, Asthma and other respiratory problems, Sleep disorders, Liver Disease, Early Puberty or menarche, Eating Disorders, and Skin infections.

An Obese child can also cause many social problems that make it difficult for them to cope with everyday life in and outside of school. Low self esteem is a side effect cause by everyday bullying by their fellow peers, which causes them to sometimes go into a depression.

Metabolic Syndrome and Type Two Diabetes.'

Metabolic Syndrome

People with the metabolic syndrome are at increased risk of coronary heart disease and other diseases related to plaque buildups in artery walls and type 2 diabetes. The metabolic syndrome has become increasingly common in the United States. It’s estimated that over 50 million Americans have it. The highest risk factors for this syndrome appear to be abdominal obesity and insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is a generalized metabolic disorder, in which the body can’t use insulin efficiently. This is why the metabolic syndrome is also called the insulin resistance syndrome. Other conditions associated with the syndrome include physical inactivity, aging, hormonal imbalance and genetic predisposition. Some people are naturally insulin resistance. Some are excess body fat and physical inactivity, can elicit insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome in these people. Most people with insulin resistance have abdominal obesity. There are many metabolic risk factors that have not been discovered yet.

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions — increased blood pressure, high insulin levels, excess body fat around the waist or abnormal cholesterol levels that occur together, increasing your risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Having just one of these conditions isn't diagnosed as metabolic syndrome, but it does relate to your risk of serious disease. If more than one of these conditions occur together, your risk is even greater of having it. If you have metabolic syndrome or any of the components of metabolic syndrome, aggressive lifestyle changes can delay or even prevent the development of serious health problems.

Type 2 Diabetes Type 2 diabetes is a chronic condition that affects your body metabolizes sugar which is your main source of energy. When you have type 2 your body will not take insulin. Insulin is a hormone that regulates the movement of sugar into your cells. There is no cure for this yet but you can take medications to get by. You can follow a strict diet and exercise all of the time.

Treatment and Drugs

Treatment for childhood obesity is based on your child's age and if the child has medical conditions. Treatment usually includes changes in your child's diet and how much physical activity your child gets. In certain circumstances, treatment may include medications or weight-loss surgery. Weight loss is usually recommended for children over the age of 7 or for younger children who have same health concerns. Weight loss should be slow and steady. From 1 pound (about 0.5 kilograms) a week to 1 pound a month, depending on your child's condition. Your child needs to eat a healthy diet and increase their physical activity. Success depends mostly on your commitment to helping your child make these changes. Think of eating habits and exercise habits. The most important thing is physical activity. It not only burns calories but it builds strong bones and muscles and helps your child sleep well at night and stay alert during the day. Such habits established in childhood help young children maintain healthy weight even though they have the hormonal changes, rapid growth and social influences that often lead to overeating. And active children are more likely to become fit because of this.

Weight-loss surgery can be a safe and effective option for some severely obese young children who have been unable to lose weight using other weight-loss methods. However, as with any type of surgery, there are potential risks and long-term problems that may occur. Also, the long-term effects of weight-loss surgery on a child's growth and development are unknown. Weight-loss surgery in young children is uncommon. But your doctor may say this surgery if your child's weight poses a bigger health threat than do the potential risks of surgery. It is important that a child being considered for weight-loss surgery meets with a team of pediatric specialists, including a pediatric endocrinologist. Surgery isn't the easy answer for weight loss. It doesn't guarantee that your child loses all of their excess weight or that your child keeps it off long term. It also doesn't replace the need for following a healthy diet and regular physical activity program. Childhood obesity is a serious problem affecting the United States. There areseveral ways to prevent childhood obesity though. Some ways are dieting, and watching your calorie and fat intake. Over the past years healthy foods has become more affordable. But even sneaking in a kid’s meal from Mc. Donald’s takes over an hour or two of hard exercise to burn off. By in taking just enough calories for a day or even a little over that is excellent for losing weight then if you do any exercise to lose any extra weight you will still have enough energy. But then you don’t have to burn off as many extra calories. The same is for fat intake. Some other ways to prevent childhood obesity without changing your eating habits is to just get exercise therefore resulting in losing weight. The recommended age to lose weight is as a child because it is easier to lose weight. As a child you have a lot more free time than an adult so you could spend that time outside. exercising. And as an adult you must work and then you would not have any extra time to use because after work no one wants to do anything other than eat and go to sleep. Don’t eat in front of your TV that is where you see most of the fast food or junk food advertisements. These are several ways to prevent childhood obesity.

POVERTY IN THE USA **

DEFINITION OF POVERTY​

The definition of poverty is the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support; condition of being poor; indigence. The need to supply families with needs which they can’t afford themselves.

DEMOGRAPHIC POVERTY FACTS Money income includes earnings, unemployment compensation, workers’ compensation, Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, public assistance, veterans’ payments, survivor benefits, pension or retirement income, interest, dividends, rents, royalties, income from estates, trusts, educational assistance, alimony, child support, assistance from outside the household, and other miscellaneous sources. Non-cash benefits (such as food stamps and housing subsidies) do not count before tax cuts are taken, excludes capital gains or losses. If a person lives with a family, add up the income of all family members. (Non-family does not count.)

Poverty thresholds are the money amounts used to calculate poverty status Each person or family is assigned one out of 48 possible poverty thresholds. Thresholds vary according to family size, age of family members, The thresholds remain the same in every U.S state although the thresholds in some sense reflect families needs,

More like a generalization than an actual full depth report many government aid programs use a different poverty measure, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) poverty guidelines, or multiples thereof. Poverty thresholds were originally created in the time 1963-1964, using U.S. Department of Agriculture food budgets designed for families under economic stress, data about how much of their income families spent on food. If total family income is less than the threshold appropriate for that family, the family is in poverty, all family members have the same poverty status. For individuals who do not live with family members, their own income is compared with the appropriate threshold. If total family income equals or is greater than the threshold, the family (or unrelated individual) is not in poverty

EFFECTS OF HUNGER AND POVERTY

In just a few years, prices for staple foods needed around the worldrecord levels, with prices for wheat, corn and rice increasing more than 80%. Increase in prices culminated in food riots and other disturbances in at least 18 countries poor regions, push millions more below the poverty reverse years of ground gained in the fight against. One members stepped up to meet action by putting the food crisis.

For short- and long-term efforts to deal with the hunger crisis and its effects. They also released a communiqué outlining their intended mid- to long-term response on foodthere continues to be a great need for increased development in the developing world.

An African sees only money and money and nothing but money. Not but the African prime minister, the African governor, the African Doctor, the African Judge, the African lawyer, the African King, and even the African Pastor. And that is why Africa is still poor and that is why Africa continues to wallow in they come as saints and leave as devils. An African a country is a president for a few selected people. An African president is a educated and a president for only those in the higher class. An African president sees no poverty. An African president sees no hunger. An African president sees no HIV. An African president knows no orphan. Poverty ” just the African.

There is poverty in Africa but Africa has almost all it takes to be the richest continent on earth. The major problem facing Africa today is corruption and poor leadership. There are greedy people in Africa including our leaders who don't care about their poor mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters.

To date, more than 15 million children have already been orphaned as a result of the epidemic. Another 1 million children are currently infected with the disease." Help fight child poverty in Africa. Help Fight diseases in Africa! “ It is estimated that more than 18 million people have died to date, Additionally, more than 25 million adults are currently infected which will result in the continued increase in the number of orphaned children. To date, more than 15 million children have already been orphaned as a result of the epidemic. Another 1 million children are currently infected with the disease." of which over 3 million were children.”

GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS OF POVERTY IN THE U.S.

The United States measures poverty using the Census Bureau. The official poverty rate using poverty thresholds are measured every year. The thresholds represent the minimally income families need to survive. A family is considered poor if its income is lower than the poverty threshold. I put some charts below that help the United States measure poverty. The sources of were I got the charts are below each chart.

2007 Poverty Thresholds, Selected Family Types Single Individual Under 65 years $ 11,201 65 years & older $ 10,326 Single Parent One child $ 14,840 Two children $ 17,346 Two Adults No children $ 14,417 One child $ 17,330 Two children $ 21,834 Three children $ 25,694

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2008, Report P60, n. 236, p. 43.

The green line represents one of the alternative measures using NAS methodology. This particular series subtracts out-of-pocket medical expenses from a family's income, computes a threshold each year based on consumption data, and adjusts this threshold based on the cost-of-living in different geographic areas.

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Income Alternative Poverty Estimates in the United States: 2003, Report P60, n. 227, Tables B-1 and B-3, pp. 18, 20. Children represent a disproportionate share of the poor in the United States; they are 25 percent of the total population, but 35 percent of the poor population. In 2008, 14.1 million children, or 19.0 percent, were poor. The poverty rate for children also varies substantially by race and Hispanic origin, as shown in the table below[4]. Children Under 18 Living in Poverty, 2007 Category Number (in thousands) Percent All children under 18 14,068 19.0 White only, non-Hispanic 4,364 10.6 Black 4,202 33.9 Hispanic 5,010 30.6 Asian 494 13.3 SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2008, Report P60, n. 236, Table B-2, pp. 50-5.

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Writer of the site Constance F. Cit o Robert T. Michael

In the 1990’s economic fortunes shifted. Between 1989 and 1993 poverty rates in four major regions increased. The two largest region increases was in the Northeast and in the West. These two regions were most affected by the recessionary environment of the 1990s. In 1993 poverty rates have fallen in the four regions. The South and the Midwest have fallen the worst. Between the 1959 and 2000 the poverty in the south fell from 35 percent to 12 percent.

POVERTY IN PENNSYLVANIA

1.3 million Pennsylvanians live in poverty today. Their needs vary from western to eastern, northern to southern, rural to urban. Agencies have to address the needs as they appear in each area, providing the unique solutions each situation demands. We are the 24th state ranked in the America for population in poverty. Agencies such as CAAP help to fix that and reduce that population in poverty.

WHAT'S BEING DONE TO END POVERTY

About half the world’s population, which is nearly 3 billion people, live in poverty. They don’t lack financial resources, but they struggle day to day to keep hunger and disease at bay. The necessitates of life are just out of their reach. Poverty is not just about not having money, it’s about not having the things you need in life. Poverty is not having access to good clean water or proper sanitation systems. Last year a group called CARE helped 3 million people in 34 different countries get access to clean water and sanitation, which reduced the time of having to gather proper water and stay away from illnesses caused by poor hygiene. Poverty is the lack of accessible and affordable health care information and services. This reduces the vulnerability of horrible diseases. Poverty is not being able to produce enough food for you and your family. Last year the same group, CARE, helped train 1.5 billion farmers in 43 countries; which in turn gave the country the opportunity to gain back a life suitable for a family. There are two issues that have been preventing most governments from handling poverty: 1. Most governments do not see poverty-reduction as being any priority to them and so they don’t reduce it. 2. The few governments that do see poverty-reduction as being some priority have commonly wasted most of the resources in missed attempts at helping by not understanding their best options to help. The possible solution for poverty depends on what is causing it, and that can vary with time and with the place. The main poverty differences are between majority poverty as in India and minor poverty homes such as America and Britain. Most of the anti-poverty measures that have been taken, thus far have been failures, but successful action is really possible if the time is taken. In poor countries steps can be taken to help poverty by: • Improving supplies of clean water, so it can reduce illness caused by foul water supplies. • Improving the supply of accessible and affordable healthcare, to reduce diseases especially in children and elderly. • Improving the training of equipment of farmers related to agricultural and natural resource management. In rich countries these are the more common steps to take: • Improving the quality of education people get • Improving opportunities and incentive for young females to only have children when hey can assure they will be safe and fed. • Improving work opportunities and incentives for the poor so they can provide for their families

​ HAITI EARHTQUAKE

​EARTHQUAKE DEVASTATION FACTS

The 1.3 million Haiti People left homeless by an earthquake more than two months ago face horrible rains flooding their makeshift housing, aid workers said.

A downpour lasting many hours Thursday sent sheets of water down hilly terrain, flushed out latrines and turned homeless camps into quagmires, The Times of London reported on Friday afternoon.

Government officials estimate at least 200,000 of the people left homeless by the earthquake are particularly vulnerable, and thousands more are at risk from very dirty conditions.

"This has the makings of major humanitarian disaster," Alex Wynter, spokesman in Haiti for the International Federation of the Red Cross, told the British publication. "The rainy season for us boils down to a simple imperative of keeping people alive another day."

The original plan was to build large transitional settlements for the homeless on safe sites outside Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital, which was devastated by the earthquake.

That hasn't happened and the Haitian government has been accused of corruption in its distribution of humanitarian aid, The Times newspaper said. International aid workers have been handing out 100,000 tarps and tents every week. A magnitude-7 earthquake devastated Haiti on Jan. 12, killing up to 300,000 people and reducing parts of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and surrounding towns to rubble in the hemisphere's most impoverished country. Economists have estimated quake damage at up to $14 billion.

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HEALTH & ENVIRONMENAL EFFECTS

RECENT EARTHQUAKE DISASTERS WORLDWIDE There are earthquakes all over the world. Some are in Chile and others in Haiti. All earthquakes come in different sizes to. Here are some places where earthquakes have taken place in the past week. Alaska California Vanuatu Chili Dominican republic Puerto Rico Myanmar Haiti Baja California, Mexico Fiji Region Guatemala Cuba Region These are just some of the places. Every earthquake is also a different size. Some make more damage than others. A few weeks ago there were two different earthquakes. One of them was in Haiti and the other in Chili. Both of them were devastating. The earthquake in Haiti killed around 222,570 people and there were around 300,000 people injured. There were around 97,294 houses destroyed and 188, 383 damaged in the Port-au-Prince area. There were tsunami waves were reported in Jacmel, Les Cayes, Petit Goave, Leogane, Luly, and Anses a Galets. Since the earthquake there have been 59 located aftershocks with a magnitude of 4.5 or greater. There was a 6.0 aftershock that occurred 7 minutes after the main shock on January 12, 2010. The main shock was a 7.0. The earthquake in Chili was a main shock of 8.8. It killed at least 507 people and many others were injured. There were at least 200,000 houses damaged by the earthquake. Earthquakes come in all different magnitudes. Some kill more people than others. Those are some earthquakes that have been around. If you want more info please go to the links right below. Websites: __ [|http://earthquake.usgs.gov] __ __ [|http://wearecentralpa.com] __