Modern children are suffering from the diseases that were once considered to be meant for adults only. Obesity is a major disease prevalent among children. What are its causes and what solutions can be offered?

In the past few decades, obesity is considered as one of the major conundrums for adults only. However, this disease has been frequently diagnosed on younger generation. There are number of reasons for this evolution, but unhealthy food selection and changing lifestyle are the most alarming one.

The first cause of obesity is unhealthy diet. Children are often fond with junk food and soft drinks. With the growing business in junk foods industry, fast food restaurants are position in most places, and introduction of ready-made food are available in supermarkets. Thus, these foods contains high fats and calories, and are easily reached by the children. Moreover, in this modern era, parents often purchase these foods instead of preparing healthy meals for their children due to work commitment. Such an unhealthy diet is making children obese. The only viable solution is to teach their children to cook healthy foods for themselves and banning junk foods and unhealthy foods in mass media, schools and text book. Also, both children and parents should be educated on the harmful effects of junk foods.

The second cause of obesity is the sedentary lifestyle. Advancement of technology has dramatically changed the lifestyle of the young individuals. Instead of playing field sports, they are more interested in watching television, surfing internet or playing video games. This has led to reduction of physical activity in this specific age group. This issue can be resolve by encouraging young children to be active in traditional sports such as basketball and soccer as well as strictly implementing physical fitness in curriculum.

As a conclusion, it is clear that the unhealthy diet and inactive lifestyle are the major contributors of the increasing amount overweight children. Thus, it is hoped that government and parents can take their pro-active role to encourage and educate young individuals to have a healthy diet and sufficient exercise to prevent them from this infirmity.