Childhood Obesity More Environmental than Genetic

"Evidence is confirming that the environment kids live in has a greater impact than factors such as genetics, insufficient physical activity or other elements in efforts to control child obesity," wrote Tara Haelle in her article, "Consumption Junction: Childhood Obesity Determined Largely by Environmental Factors, Not Genes or Sloth." 

Haelle describes three studies published in Pediatrics in April, 2013:

"The environmental factors in these studies range from the seemingly minor, such as kids' plate sizes, to bigger challenges, such as school schedules that may keep teens from getting sufficient sleep. But they are part of an even longer list: the ubiquity of fast food, changes in technology, fewer home-cooked meals, more food advertising, an explosion of low-cost processed foods and increasing sugary drink serving sizes, as well as easy access to unhealthy snacks in vending machines, at sports games and in nearly every setting children inhabit—these are just a handful of environmental factors research has linked to increasing obesity."

Source: "Consumption Junction: Childhood Obesity Determined Largely by Environmental Factors, Not Genes or Sloth" (Scientific American, April 9, 2013)

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