The Cause Of Childhood Obesity

“Two-thirds of adults and one in three American children are considered overweight or obese, and childhood obesity has more than tripled since 1980. Today, more than twelve million children and teens are obese and more than twenty-three million are either obese or overweight. Health officials say childhood obesity has now reached an epidemic proportion and is the biggest threat to children's health since polio in the 1950s” (Introduction to Childhood Obesity: At Issue). Childhood obesity has been greatly increased in the US for many reasons. Hundreds of thousands of kids are coping with the same mental thought process because they are obese or overweight. Childhood obesity is dramatically on the rise in America.
Childhood obesity can negatively
Many kids are weak minded therefore, they believe everything that they see or hear. "The food and beverage industry spends about $2 billion a year targeting kids, often with ads for sugary drinks and junk food that are high in fat, sugar, and salt. Experts say it works: children who see food ads consume 45 percent more food than children who don't, and they eat fewer fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Nearly 40 percent of children's diets are now made up of unhealthy fats and added sugars" (Unhealthy Food Should Not Be Marketed to Children). Children should not be blasted with with advertisements for unhealthy foods that promote obesity and health problems like diabetes and high blood pressure. Children are easily hoaxed into believing everything that they see or hear. Therefore, many companies take advantage of this and they feed off of marketing to kids. Furthermore, many children also tend to lack physical activity in their daily lives. When children eat a lot, they become lazy and no longer want to move around and exercise. Instead of exercising, kids are now preferring to either sit and watch TV, play on their phones/ Ipads, or playing video games. (Introduction to Childhood Obesity: At Issue). When kids become lazy, that's when they start to become obese because they aren't burning all of the calories that they are consuming. None of the things that kids prefer to do now include moving such as, playing on their phones, watching TV etc. Because of advertising and the lack of physical activity, childhood obesity is on the