In the United States at least one child in five is overweight and the number of overweight and obese children and obese teens continues to grow.  Over the last 2 decades, this number has increased by more than 50 percent, and the number of "extremely" overweight children has nearly doubled (Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1995: 149: 1085-91).  Although children have fewer weight-related health problems than adults, overweight children are at high risk of becoming overweight adolescents and adults.  Overweight adults are at risk for a number of health problems including heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure stroke, and some forms of cancer.

What Causes Children To Become Overweight?

Children become overweight for a variety of reasons.  The most common causes are genetics, lack of activity, eating too much of the wrong foods, or a combination of these factors.  It's rare but a medical problem, such as an endocrine disorder, may cause a child to become overweight.  Your child's or teen's doctor can do an exam and some blood tests, if necessary, to rule out this type of problem.

Genetic Factors
Children whose parents are overweight run a higher risk becoming overweight themselves.  Although weight problems run in families, not all children with a family history of obesity will be overweight.  Genetic factors do play a role in weight gain, but so do the learning of bad eating habits and the lack of family exercise of the parents and family as a whole.

Lifestyle
A child's or teen's diet and his or her activity level both play an important role in determining weight.  Television, computer and video games contributes to inactivity.  Inactivity leads to weight gain, limit TV to 2 hours a day.

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