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Childhood Obesity And The Factors That Cause Obesity In Our Children
As obesity rates continue to climb in in the United States it is not surprising that we are seeing an increasing number of overweight children. But just what causes childhood obesity?
The answer is that there is no one cause of childhood obesity and there are a variety of different factors which account for obesity in our children.
For example, it is normally the case that a child with overweight or obese parents will be overweight which suggests that there could well be an inherited or genetic factor to obesity. But, despite the fact that this is an area which is now being considered, no clear genetic link has been discovered so far and it is felt far more likely that it is the eating habits of the family that result in obesity and not genetics.
We have seen a marked change in eating habits over recent years with fast food restaurants appearing on every street corner, junk food widely available and the shelves of our supermarkets groaning under the weight of ‘convenience’ foods which are frequently very high in sugar. The days when we sat down to home cooked meals are far behind us in many homes and have been replaced by take-away food or microwave meals. Indeed, all too many parents are now electing to take their children out for a hamburger rather than to prepare meals at home not just because it is easier than cooking a meal but also because they do not have to wash up!
We have also seen a very marked drop in levels of activity amongst many groups of children, spurred on in no small degree by the introduction of home computers, video gaming machines and now the ever present mobile phone. Not surprisingly, as activity levels have dropped so our children have lost their god given ability to burn off the calories gained from eating more and more fast food.
Magazine, television, the Internet and other types of media also play a part as they all but dominate our childrens’ lives and fast food, junk food and confectionary manufacturers are quick to jump onto this particular bandwagon and make full use of the advertising opportunity that the media provides. Many people would argue that commercials have done more to fuel the increase in child obesity that almost anything else in recent years.
There are also clearly a variety of social factors at play in today’s world and many children today will simply eat out of boredom. They will also turn to food when they find themselves angry, stressed, depressed or anxious.
Right now a lot of research is being aimed at the cause of child obesity and its treatment and most of this is aimed at solving the problem through a combination of diet and exercise once presented with an obese child. But, with childhood obesity continuing to grow at such a frightening rate, perhaps the time has come to attack the roots of the problem and to prevent our children from becoming obese in the first place.
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