Resistance Training

p Child Obesity and the Effectiveness of Resistance Training

November 24 , 2006 America is the home to the highest percentage of overweight and obese ten-year-old boys at 45 .8 percent1 . The term obesity refers to an excess amount of body fat , although no general definition in children exists as in adults . Many health care professionals confer in published guidelines , which use the body mass index (BMI , or a modified BMI for age , as a measure of obesity for children2 . However , other health professionals define obesity in children as excess body weight at

least twenty percent higher than a healthy weight for a child of that particular height , or a body fat percentage of more than twenty-five percent for boys and thirty-two percent for girls2 . Current research will discuss children obesity , its causes and affects , and whether or not resistance training will help in reversing this national crisis . It is important to understand every factor in to fully conclude the effect of resistance training and children

Obesity in children was once rare , but now one of the most widespread medical problems in the United States and other developed countries1 including England . Childhood obesity is one of the greatest health challenges children obesity increases the risk for adult obesity , which currently is passing smoking related deaths as the number one cause for preventable death

The most recent data confirms that since the 1970s , overweight children has nearly doubled aged two to five years , and tripled among children and adolescents aged six to nineteen years3 . These children are at risk for health risks during their

youth and adult years . For instance , while in their youth , children and adolescent are more likely to have health risks associated with cardiovascular disease , including

hypertension , high cholesterol , and Type II diabetes compared to other non-overweight /obese children and adolescents4

These children and adolescents are more promising to become obese as adults 5 ,6 . Research in one study concluded that approximately eighty percent of children who are overweight at ten to fifteen were obese as adults at twenty-five years of age5 . Furthermore , another study found that twenty percent of obese adults were overweight as children7 . This study also indicated that if overweight begins before age eight , obesity in adulthood is likely to become more severe

The chart below represents the increase and prevalence of childhood and adolescent obesity from the early 1970s to 20043 ,9 It is important to understand this occurrence at the individual level . Childhood obesity is the result of an disproportion between the calories consumed and the calories burned for energy . This imbalance can result from the influences and

interactions of a myriad of factors : genetic , behavioral , and environmental factors10 . It is a combination of these factors rather than a single factor that contributes to obesity11 . There is little evidence on specific food , beverages , or dietary patterns that contribute to excessive choleric intake in children and adolescents Today , large portions , fast food , frequent snaking , consuming energy-dense food , and beverages that contain high sugar content (liquid...