Obesity in children may be caused by several factors, the most obvious being too much fast food. Nowadays, parents often work long hours and are too busy to cook so they buy their children takeaway food. This food is much higher in fat than home-cooked meals and as a result youngsters put on weight. Another cause of childhood obesity is that children are spending more time on computers and less time doing exercise than in the past. Children used to come home from school and play outside; however, since computers have become commonplace, they prefer to play computer games.
There are many ways to reduce the rate of childhood obesity. Firstly, parents should cook more meals for their children, and if they have to eat at McDonalds, for example, they could choose the healthier meals that are now on the menu. In addition, parents need to limit the time that children are allowed to play on computers and they should enrol their children in after-school sports or go together to a park and exercise.