English B1A CLASS PACK - Bakersfield College

Apart 4cardiovascular risk factor, compared with 10% of those with a BMI-for-age less than the 85 thpercentile, and 25% of overweight children have two or more risk factors” (Wexler 70). Childrenmay face various health consequences because they are obese. According to Social Issues inAmerica an Encyclopedia, “The most common medical complications associated with obesityare insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, hypertension, stroke, and coronary heart disease,gallstones, respiratory dysfunction and asthma, and sleep apnea as well as increased incidence ofcertain cancers, including gall bladder cervical, ovarian, and endometrial” (Moore 1286). Type 2Diabetes, the disorder previously known as “adult onset diabetes” is becoming “one of the mostsignificant long-term consequences of childhood obesity” (Ashworth 150). In Defeating theChildhood Obesity Epidemic, Dr. Ashworth describes type 2 Diabetes:With type 2 Diabetes, the pancreas continues to generate insulin, but the body cannot useit correctly. As children continue to eat diets high in sugar, fat and calories, the pancreasis forced to produce insulin at a Herculean rate. But the pancreas cannot keep up becausethe body becomes insulin resistant from the continual flood of the chemical. (Ashworth151)Children who are diagnosed with type 2 Diabetes face numerous life threatening consequencesfrom the disease including damaged blood vessels, ulcerations in the feet, and fatty liver disease(Ashworth 153). Fatty liver disease is also known as the non-alcoholic liver disease because thecondition causes liver damage and cirrhosis of the liver like alcohol-induced liver disease(Ashworth 153). Many children are considered overweight and obese at younger ages; therefore,changes are occurring in children’s health care. Explaining the changes in her particularpractice, in Defeating the Childhood Obesity Epidemic, Dr. Carolyn Ashworth says:24