3 Reasons That Cause Obesity In Children

Childhood obesity has become a severe health problem that affects more than 43 million children globally. In fact, it is estimated that about 40% of children are obese. It means one in three children have problems with their body weight.

What causes obesity in children?

1. An unbalanced nutritious food

There are still people who believe that an obese child is a child well fed. But, this is a mistaken belief – obesity is synonymous with health, quite the opposite. Studies indicate that children today eat more calories of low quality than before. The problem is that the modern diet prevails on ‘junk’ food which only adds empty calories and not nutrients.

2. Inactivity or lack of physical activity

In the earlier period, children used to walk to school and play outdoors in their leisure time. Today, a large amount of children spend too much time on television, play video games or involve themselves in some inactive activities. In fact, most of them spend about 2 to 4 hours on Internet. These habits make the children remain seated for more hours and with a more sedentary lifestyle. In addition, lack of physical activity also increases anxiety and the level of stress, and reduces the quality of sleep and hinders their muscle development.

3. Genetic and hereditary inclination

Habits and customs of poor parental life is largely determined by the onset of obesity in their children. In fact, it is known that obesity affects the parent body weight of children. Obviously, genetic factors are also at the root of this problem. It is estimated that between 40-90% of cases of obesity have a hereditary factor. This was established by research. It has found one of the genes involved in the development of obesity.