It's no secret that the majority of kids - and if we're honest that includes ourselves in our earlier days - constantly shy away from the foods that are good and healthy for them. Preference has always been shown to those high in saturated fats and containing great quantities of sugar. It is however, the rapid increase in fast food establishments and the clever advertising campaigns that marketing specialists dream up to accompany them; that have escalated a growing concern for the children of the 21st century. Childhood obesity is already widespread in some areas of the world and on the rise in many of the others. A startling statistic suggests that an estimated 22 million children under five are thought to be overweight across the globe. It is believed that children now get 10% of their total energy intake from fast foods! A Body Mass Index (BMI) reading is accepted as reasonably accurate in adults is assessing their weight range, but it is much more difficult in adolescents, especially during puberty when they are experiencing varying phases of sudden growth.

The major concern is that these overweight children are at risk for serious health conditions like type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol - all once considered exclusively adult diseases. In a vicious circle, those children who are unhappy with their weight may be more likely than those of an average-weight, to develop unhealthy dieting habits, which can also lead to serious eating disorders. Encouragement

from two angles represent the key to turning things around. Firstly, the diets of these susceptible youngsters need to be managed and monitored more closely by parents and guardians; secondly exercise is essential, as lack of this plays a key role in gradual weight gain, which can lead all the way to obesity. With the explosion in recent years of video gaming systems, children are spending more and more time sitting in front of a screen of one description or another, instead of running around in the fresh air. Perhaps the solution is for all the family to become involved in outdoor pursuits. Many kids have become so used to being left to their own devises that they simply play on these games out of sheer boredom and the general apathy displayed by their elders has discouraged them from following a more active alternative. So a huge responsibility is resting firmly on the shoulders of families to steer their vulnerable offspring away from the path to obesity and onto the road to a healthy life.

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