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Childhood Obesity Is The Consumption Of Fast Food

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Childhood obesity in the United States has been increasing for the last thirty years. Obesity is defined as an excessive amount of fat located in the body and it varies with the individual 's height and age. For example, what is considered obese weight for someone may be different to another person. In addition, some of the causes of obesity are excessive junk food, lack of motivation to exercise and lack of knowledge about nutrition and fitness. Often times, children do not consider the nutritional value of the food they consume or how often to exercise, they are merely dependent on their parents to choose for them. Therefore, parents are at fault as well when their children gain excessive weight, after all they are the ones providing the specific foods. Moreover, childhood obesity has become an immense social problem in the US. One obvious cause of childhood obesity is the consumption of fast food. Fast food is low quality food that is high in calories and has a high fat content; it lacks proper nutrition and is highly processed. The excessive amount of unnecessary calories that remain in the body are eventually stored as fat, therefore, this causes weight gain. Fast food restaurants are inexpensive and quick to obtain, for example, if a child begins to complain that they want McDonald 's, parents will provide just that in order to quiet them. The parents will disregard the consequences, although some are aware that junk food “lack[s] of nutritional value” (Ferdman).

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