by Thokozile Gurganious

Created on: January 03, 2010

”America leads all other countries with just over 30% of the population categorized as obese and nearly an additional third as being overweight. In comparison to the United Kingdom, who comes in at 23% and Canada, whose obese population makes up just over 14% of the total, it would appear that weight is a concern in America." There are several reasons why obese children usually turn out into obese adults. Here are some of the reasons:  

1. It has been argued that these children turn out into obese adults because their obesity is in their genes-there is very little that they can do because they cannot change their genes." A genetic link to obesity was strongly inferred by the results of studies involving twins who were raised apart. The study allowed the influences of genetic make-up and environment to be distinguished. These studies determined that genetic factors contribute to about 40 per cent of obesity variance in twins. Although genetic factors alone can not explain the large increase in the prevalence of childhood and adolescent obesity, interactions between genetics and environmental factors are likely."  Researchers have come to this conclusion because children with obese parents are more likely to be obese themselves. 

However, this argument is subject to a lot of criticism. Obesity in America is a problem of recent development. Indeed, Americas only started being obese and overweight from the 1960s. "Since the 1960s, Americans have grown roughly an inch taller ... and 25 pounds heavier. According to researchers, these increases can be attributed to too much food and not enough exercise… From 1960 to 2002, the average weight jumped from: Men : 166.3 pounds to 191 pounds Women: 140.2 pounds to 164.3 pounds Body mass index for adults (ages 20-74) has increased from 25 to 28 Even the average weight of a 10-year-old has increased about 11 pounds in the last 40 years." Before the 1960s, Americans were not as obese as they are now. If we argue that genes are responsible for the obesity, are we saying that our genetic makeup has changed during the last few decades? If so, then we ought to be informed as to why our genetic makeup has changed. The point therefore is that the role of genes in the obesity epidemic is being either overstated or not being adequately explained.  

Of course children whose parents are obese are more likely to be obese because the parents are probably couch potatoes who would probably call

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