¶ … controversy regarding childhood obesity, as this is a pressing matter and as there are more and more cases involving children becoming obese as a result of a series of factors involving poor nutrition, little to no exercise, and a general failure to understand why it is important for them to adopt attitudes that can maintain them healthy. The percentage of children becoming obese has experienced a steady increase in recent years, this standing as proof with regard to how conditions have become critical. The increase of the number of obese children is directly proportional with the advancement of technology and fast food, taking into account that children become more and more attached to technological devices and find it easier and more enjoyable to eat fast food. Numerous pediatricians, parents, and policy-makers have gotten actively involved in discussing the topic of childhood obesity and in finding strategies they can use with the purpose of raising the public's awareness concerning the problem. "Over the past three decades, the share of children who are considered overweight or obese has doubled, from 15% in the 1970s to nearly 30% today, while the share of children who are considered obese has tripled." (Paxon 3) The mass media plays an important role in shaping the public's opinion and during the last few years it has actually emphasized the gravity of the problem...

Even with this, results have been limited and childhood obesity continues to be a pressing problem.
Many individuals tend to focus on obesity as being a threat to their children's physical appearance instead on focusing on how it affects their health. This is largely because the contemporary society promotes material values and because children often tease each-other with regard to their particularities. Obese children are likely to be taunted in many children communities and both them and their parents become obsessed with the idea of physical appearance as being the principal reason why it is important for a person to lose weight. The fact that these people ignore the health factor in the problem is particularly important, as some might actually perform the wrong actions in an attempt to lose weight: many children end up starving themselves because they want to be 'normal' and they only manage to further aggravate the problem.

According to Olga Vaca Durr (xxi), a study performed in the 1960s involved several children being provided with pictures of other children with diverse disabilities and children who were obese. These children needed to choose between who they would most enjoy having as a friend and who they would least enjoy having as a friend. "The researcher discovered that…