Childhood Obesity Causes

Most important childhood obesity causes are quite obvious… eating too much and exercising very little with the sedentary lifestyle and a number of junk foods available for kids out there.

Obesity means being seriously overweight and carrying an excessive amount of body fat. With the disturbing rise in the number of overweight and obese children especially in the western world, with bad food choices and not exercising enough, diseases and health problems tend to follow.

So it is worthwhile to understand the childhood obesity causes, or more so the risk factors in a little more depth then we can address the problem better.

Childhood Obesity Causes and Risk Factors:

• Consuming more calories than they burn, generally in the form of fast foods, processed snack foods and sweet drinks: A large calorie surplus accumulating over time.

• Snacking on high calorie, high sugar, high fat, low dietary fiber, high salt foods and drinks- soft drinks, candies, desserts, chocolate bars, crisps- from vending machines and fast food restaurants that have very little or no nutritional value.

• Being constantly targeted by fast-food chains and avoiding home-cooked meals. Although eating fast foods occasionally is OK, consumption on a daily and regular basis is very damaging to children’s health and contributes to weight gain and childhood obesity.

• The variety in the junk food market, very creative and effective marketing techniques of fast food giants and junk food manufacturers.

• Poor cooking, shopping, eating, nutrition and exercise habits of the family. Living in a house where unhealthy food is always available in the fridge or cupboard, and physical activity is almost unheard of.

• Having overweight parents with unhealthy eating habits and that don’t exercise.

• Families eating out a lot more and choosing large, high fat and high-calorie meals.

• Developing a habit of eating when not hungry and while doing homework, surfing the internet or watching television.

 

• A lot of time spent watching TV, playing computer games, browsing the net or chatting and not participating in sports or physical activities, burning very few calories as a result. Children are hardly seen on play grounds these days.

• Schools cutting down on physical education classes to accommodate for extra classroom study sessions.

• Genetic and hormonal disorders such as Prader-Willi syndrome and Cushing’s syndrome. Fat-storage, metabolic rate, and hormones are affected by genetics. Having said that, weight gain and obesity due to genetic inheritance still make up a very small percentage of all cases and genes simply are not responsible for the massive increase in childhood obesity over the last thirty years.

• Being from a low-income background increases the risk of becoming obese as it may require money and resources to make healthy eating possible in the case of families struggling to survive.

• Distorted body image of children. Thoughts become reality in a way.

• Weakness and a lack of will power.

• Not walking to school, parents using cars for short-trips.

• Losing self-confidence due to heavy stress and associating eating with emotional moods, coping with problems and dealing with emotions, stress, and boredom.

• Certain illnesses and medications that may change children’s hormonal balance, that may lead to eating more and gaining weight.

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