Need an research paper on health development/ health promotion. Needs to be 10 pages. Please no plagiarism. The statistics with regards to obesity in children and adolescents are almost as profound as those for adult. In fact, the prevalence of obesity among children and adolescents has been rising at an astounding rate, nearly doubling over the past three decades, and has reached epidemic proportions. As of 2002, a reported 31.5% of youth were at risk for overweight and 16.5% could be classified as overweight (Medley, Ogden, Johnson, Carroll, Curtin, & Flegal, 2004).

The negative health consequences of obesity in children and adolescents are indisputable. When compared to children of normal weight, those who are obese are twice as likely to develop cardiovascular disease or hypertension and are three times as likely as their non-obese peers to develop diabetes as adults (Mossberg, 1989). Obese children also are at increased risk for dyslipidemia, both increased low-density lipoprotein levels and decreased high-density lipoprotein levels (Leung & Robson, 1990). Longitudinal data from the Bogolusa Heart Study indicates a significant risk for developing type 2 diabetes for obese adolescents (Srinivasan, Bao, Wattigney, & Berenson, 1996). Among those who were obese as adolescents, 2.4% had developed type 2 diabetes by the age of 30 compared to none in the non-obese population. The detrimental health effects of obesity are pervasive and enduring. Strauss (1999) reported that being an obese adolescent predicted early mortality even more consistently than obesity in adulthood.

The complications related to obesity in youths are not limited to physical health. Obesity in adolescents also has been associated with fewer years of education, higher poverty, lower marriage rates and lower family income (Dietz, 1997. Maffeis & Tato, 2001). However, evidence for an association between overweight and obesity and low self-esteem are inconsistent. Some studies have found no significant relationship (e.g., Gortmaker, 1993.