With obesity rates continuing to climb in In the US and UK particularly it is not surprising that we are seeing a growing number of overweight children. But just what is it that produces obesity in our children?
The simple answer is that there is no one cause of childhood obesity and there are numerous factors which lead to obesity in our children.
It is often the case for instance that a child with overweight or obese parents will also be overweight or obese and this suggests that there could well be a genetic or inherited factor to obesity. But, despite the fact that this is an area which is now being considered, no clear genetic link has yet been established and it is thought far more likely that it is the diet and eating habits of the family which result in obesity and not genetics.
We have seen a marked change in eating habits in the past few years with fast food restaurants appearing on every corner, junk food available just about everywhere and our supermarket shelves packed with 'convenience' foods which are generally very high in sugar. The days when we enjoyed home cooking are far behind us in the majority of homes and have been replaced by take-away food or microwave meals. In fact, an increasing number of parents are now electing to take their children out for a hamburger instead of cooking meals at home not just because it is simpler than cooking but also because it saves on the washing up!
We have also seen a very marked drop in levels of activity for many groups of children, fuelled in no small measure by the advent of homecomputers, video gaming machines and now the ubiquitous mobile phone. Of course, as activity levels have fallen so our children have also lost their natural ability to burn up the calories gained from eating a growing quantity of fast food.
Television, the Internet, magazines and other types of media also play a role as they all but dominate our childrens' lives and fast food, junk food and candy manufacturers are not slow in jumping onto this particular bandwagon and take full advantage of the advertising opportunity which 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 various social factors at play in today's world and a lot of children nowadays simply eat if they are bored. They will also turn to food if they find themselves angry, stressed, depressed or anxious.
At the moment a great deal of medical research is being directed towards the causes of child obesity and its treatment and much of this research is focused on solving the problem using a combination of diet and exercise once presented with an obese child. But, with childhood obesity continuing to grow at such a disturbing rate, perhaps the time has come to attack the roots of the problem and to stop our children from becoming obese in the first place.
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