Child Obesity - Who is to Blame?

As we look around at the current generation of children, one can notice more and more that child obesity is becoming a serious problem. A combination of technology, alternative forms of entertainment and poor food choices have greatly changed the path at which our children are taking toward the future. We are starting to see the consequences of lower energy expenditures coupled with poor nutritional habits. Unfortunately this problem is going virtually un-noticed by the majority of parents and the other people that influence our children.
Today’s technology provides children with a number of different exciting ways to spend their time. The children of today would much rather surf the internet, watch a DVD or play a video game instead of going outside to ride their bike or play in the park. These indoor activities burn very little extra energy and quite often lead to an increase in snacking. In days past parents would have a hard time getting their kids to come back inside where as now in many cases the opposite is true. They simply have a hard time getting their kids to go outside and play when these other options are available.
In addition to burning fewer calories children are being exposed to an increase of junk foods and processed foods. These types of foods have very little or no nutritional value and are loaded with trans-fats, sugar, artificial flavors and salt. An increase in technology in the food industry has made it easier to produce good tasting foods at very low cost using artificial and other low cost addictive additives. Tricky marketing that stretches the truth and convenient packaging has also made it more difficult for the consumer to seek out the product that best suits them from a quality nutrition standpoint