Do Fast Food Companies Cause Childhood Obesity?

In a time where approximately a third of North American kids, people may question if there is something wrong with healthcare or our advancements in technology. Are we not eating well enough? Are we not exercising? Do we have bad habits? In reality it's all of that. Recently, the biggest problems causing child obesity is the fact that kids don’t exercise enough, the lack of sleep that kids receive, and possibly the biggest problem would be that fast food companies are heavily advertising themselves towards kids. Though this may seem like a problem for kids, research shows that many kids who happen to be obese, stay like that for the rest of their lives. Nowadays, with the rise in popularity with television and video games, kids are lacking in physical activity, which is an effective way to combat obesity. A study conducted by the YMCA discovered that 74% of children aged 5 to 10 receive little to no exercise on a daily basis. Furthermore, this study showed that a growing number of parents would rather play video games and …show more content…
Moreover, this article showed that low income families often face problems when it comes to health eating, because of the cost of healthy eating, the convenience of fast food, and the also attractiveness of fast food. To deal with this, parents should encourage their children to live a healthy lifestyle, because as stated in many studies conducted by credible sources (Harvard’s School of Public Health, The University of Western Australia, etc) it shows that kids generally listen and pass on the habits of their parents, either for good or bad. Personally, my parents, in an effort to make our family more healthy, have decided to buy less processed food, and even taught me how to cook simple recipes, such as burritos and pasta. Making this an effective way to help transition kids with high amounts of body fat, into a healthier lifestyle through dietary