Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Causes of Obesity in Children - A look into some of the reasons why



Causes of obesity in children is similar to what is affecting the rest of westernized world and is a growing concern. When more food energy is consumed than used up, this causes the body to store the excess energy as fat. Obesity can be caused from various factors such as depression, genetics or dysfunctions like diabetes. However the two major causes of obesity are poor diet and inactivity.

Obesity has become so out of hand in industrialized world that it has been called an "epidemic" by the World Health Organization (WHO). Although children have less choice of what is being served or prepared for them, it is the consumption of fast foods and other high caloric foods that is causing this “epidemic” in the last decade. “Based on data from the 2004 CCHS, 59% of Canadian children and adolescents were reported to consume fruit and vegetables less than five times a day.
 
Although there is not secret to this a similar study went on to prove that children who ate fruits and vegetables at least five times a day where less likely to be overweight then those who did not (Tjepkema, M. 2008). This showed that much of the weight gained was from what was being consumed.

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