Causes of Childhood Obesity

            Childhood obesity is a growing concern in the United States. North Carolina is 5 in the country for worst childhood obesity ("The Burden of Obesity in North Carolina", 2009), and "four of the leading ten causes of death" in the country ("The Burden of Obesity in North Carolina", 2009). Children today are obese for a variety of reasons. It's been observed that these reasons include lack of exercise, unhealthy meal choices, and too many technologic options (Anderson, Butcher, 2006). Childhood obesity is a growing concern in today's society. There are a large number of contributing factors which may lead to this disease some of which may include lack of exercise, unhealthy diet, and exposure to too much multimedia. As a nation we need more physical education in our schools, a change in how and what we eat, and we need to change our view on how society looks at natural and organic foods that are sold in the local grocer.
             One of the major contributing factors of childhood obesity is the lack of physical education in our public schools. According to the CDC recommendations from 2013, "children should spend a minimal of sixty minutes" participating in a physical activity daily (Childhood Obesity Causes & Consequences, 2013, para. 2). We need to implement more physical education in our schools. It's been reported, in 2007 only 18% of high school students met these requirements (Childhood Obesity Causes & Consequences 2013). Children are not getting out and playing sports or participating in as many extracurricular activities. According to the CDC in 2009 only about a third of children participated in physical education classes on a daily basis (Childhood Obesity Causes & Consequences, 2013, para 1). This obviously indicates that children are not participating in physical education, nor are they meeting the recommended amount of daily physical exercise. We need to find a way to get our kids more involved in physical education in school.