• Obese children and adolescents have shown an alarming increase in the incidence of type 2 diabetes, also known as adult-onset diabetes. Many obese children have high cholesterol and blood pressure levels, which are risk factors for heart disease.  Obese children also have a high incidence of orthopedic problems, liver disease, and asthma.  (Source: Torgan, Carol Ph.D. “Childhood Obesity on the Rise.” The NIH Word on Health. June 2002. http://www.nih.gov/news/WordonHealth/jun2002/childhoodobesity.htm)
  
  
• Overweight adolescents have a 70 percent chance of becoming overweight or obese adults, continuing to put them at greater risk for health problems. (Source: The Problem of Overweight in Children and Adolescents. Department of Health and Human Services Fact Sheet; http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/obesity/calltoaction/CalltoAction.pdf)
  
  
• The American Psychiatric Association and other major organizations note the mental health impacts of childhood obesity. One study at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey found that obese girls ages 13 to 14 are four times more likely to experience low self-esteem than non-obese girls. It also reported that obese boys and girls with low self-esteem had higher rates of loneliness, sadness, and nervousness, and were more likely to smoke and drink alcohol compared with obese children with normal self-esteem. Depression, often an outcome of low self-esteem, affects as many as 750,000 teens in the U.S. (Source: Pediatrics, "Childhood Obesity and Self-Esteem," January 2000.)

The causes behind the increased rates of childhood obesity have become clear as our communities become increasingly more demanding and technologically dependent.

• Overweight in children and adolescents is generally caused by lack of physical activity, unhealthy eating patterns, or a combination of the two, with genetics and lifestyle both playing important roles in determining a child's weight. (Source: “Overweight in Children and Adolescents.” The Surgeon General's Call To Action To Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity. 2001. http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/obesity/calltoaction/fact_adolescents.htm)
  
  
• Society has become very sedentary.  Six out of 10 children ages nine to 13 do not participate in any kind of organized sports or physical activity program outside of school, and children whose parents have lower incomes and education levels are even less likely to participate. Nearly 23 percent do not engage in any free-time physical activity. (Source: Physical Activity Levels Among Children Aged 9-13 Years – United States. 2002. MMWR 2003; 52[33]:75-8.)
  
  
• Children spend more time sitting in front of electronic screens than any other activity besides sleeping. The average time spent with various media (televisions, computers, video games) is over four and one half-hours per day among children two to 17 year olds.  (Woodard, Ph.D., Emory H. IV, Gridina, Natalia. “Media in the Home: The Fifth Annual Survey of Parents and Children.” Annenberg Public Policy Center. 2000.)
  
  
• According to a national study, 92 percent of elementary schools do not provide daily physical education classes to all students throughout the entire school year. (Source: School Health Policies and Program Study. Journal of School Health. 2001; 7 1[7].)