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As obesity rates continue to rise in In the US and UK particularly it is no surprise that we are seeing an increasing number of overweight and obese 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 many factors that cause obesity in our children. It is usually the case for example that a child whose parents are overweight or obese will also be overweight which suggests that there could be an inherited or genetic component to obesity. However, despite the fact that this is an area that is currently being looked at, no clear genetic link has so far been discovered and it is felt much more likely that it is the diet and eating habits in the family that result in obesity rather than genetics. There has been a considerable shift in eating habits over recent years with fast food restaurants springing up on every corner, junk food widely available and the shelves of our supermarkets lined with 'convenience' foods that are usually very high in sugar. The days of home cooking are far behind us in many households and have been superceded by take-away food or microwave meals. Indeed, an increasing number of parents are now electing to take their children out to eat instead of cooking meals at home not just because it is simpler than cooking a meal but also because it saves on the washing up! In addition, we have witnessed a very marked fall in activity levels amongst many groups of children, fuelled in no small degree by the arrival of video games consoles, computers and now the ubiquitous mobile phone. Unsurprisingly, as activity levels have fallen so our children have also lost their normal ability to burn off the calories gained from eating more and more fast food. The Internet, television, magazines and other forms of media also play a part as they dominate the lives of our kids and fast food, junk food and confectionary manufacturers are not slow in jumping 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 child obesity that almost anything else in the past few years. There are also clearly a variety of social factors at play in the world today and a significant number of children today will simply eat when they get bored. Additionally, they will turn to the comfort of food if they are stressed, angry, anxious or depressed. Nowadays a lot of research is being aimed at the causes of child obesity and its treatment and the majority of this research is aimed at finding a solution to the problem through diet and exercise once confronted with an obese child. However, with childhood obesity continuing to increase at an alarming rate, perhaps it is now time to tackle the roots of the problem and to prevent our children from becoming obese in the first place.
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