In many countries, children are getting fatter and less fit day by day.

It is irrefutable that childhood obesity is a burgeoning problem these days in many part of the world. In this speech I intend into the causes of this problem and suggest some ways forward.

The most important reason is unhealthy diet. Children are attracted to fast food which is rich in sugar and fat. They are ignorant of what constitutes a healthy diet. Parents nowadays are busy in their work and are not present to guide their children. To add to it, children are bombarded with advertisements from fast food companies.

Another important factor is children are less active than they used to be. In the past young people took part in activities that burned a lot of energy. However, today they spent a lot of their times indoor, sitting in front of computers or playing video games. This sedentary life style is playing havoc with health of young people.

There are number of steps that need to be taken to solve this problem. The first is to educate the children about nutrition. Heath education should be incorporated in school curricula. Schools should organize compulsory lessons to explain the main elements of healthy diet and teach pupils how to prepare a healthy meals. Parents should also cook delicious meals at home so that children are deterred from eating fast food. Furthermore, government should have some restrictions on the type of adverts shown in advertisement. Finally, children should be encourage to take part in sports. Schools have a great role to play in this.

To conclude, childhood obesity is a serious problem and it should be tackled on a war footing otherwise the young people of today will have a very unhealthy middle and old age.