What Is Causing The Current Dramatic Rise In Child Obesity?
by: DonaldSaunders |
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As rates for obesity continue to soar in the West it is no surprise that we are seeing a growing number of obese children. But exactly what causes child obesity?
The simple answer is that there is no one cause of child obesity and there are many different factors that cause obesity in children.
For example, it is often the case that a child whose parents are overweight or obese will be overweight or obese which suggests that there could be a genetic or inherited component to obesity. However, though this is an area which is now being studied, no clear genetic link has been discovered yet and it is felt far more likely that it is the diet and eating habits of the family which cause obesity and not genetics.
In the last few years we have seen a marked change in eating habits with fast food restaurants appearing on every street corner, junk food widely available and our supermarket shelves groaning under the weight of so-called 'convenience' foods which are often very high in sugar. The days of home cooked meals are far behind us in the majority of homes and have been replaced by take-away food or microwave meals. In fact, more and more parents are now opting to take their children out for a pizza instead of preparing meals at home not just because it is easier than cooking a meal but also because it saves a lot of washing up!
We have also witnessed a very significant drop in activity levels amongst many groups of children, fueled in no small measure by the arrival of homecomputers, video games consoles and now the ever present mobile phone. Not surprisingly, as activity levels have dropped so children have also lost their natural ability to burn off the calories gained from eating a growing quantity of junk food.
Television, magazines, the Internet and other types of media also play an important role as they dominate our childrens' lives and fast food, junk food and candy manufacturers are quick to jump onto this bandwagon and make full use of the advertising opportunity provided by the media. Many people would argue that advertising has done more to encourage the increase in childhood obesity that just about anything else in the last few years.
There are also a lot of psychological factors at play in the world today and a lot of children nowadays will simply eat whenever they get bored. Also, they will turn to the comfort of food when they are angry, stressed, anxious or depressed.
Right now a lot of research is being aimed at the causes of childhood obesity and its treatment and much of this research is focused on finding a solution to the problem using a combination of diet and exercise once confronted with an obese child. But, with child obesity continuing to increase at a disturbing rate, perhaps it is now time to tackle the roots of the problem and to prevent our children from suffering from obesity in the first place.
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