Obesity has been a very important topic in our society in recent years. It has continued to increase at high rates, especially among children. This leads us to ask: what are the causes of childhood obesity? There are many different elements that can contribute to the causes of childhood obesity. Children become overweight and obese for a variety of reasons. The main factors that cause childhood obesity are genetic factors, lack of physical activity, eating patterns and unhealthy lifestyles. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Genetic factors are one of the causes that contribute to childhood obesity. Infant body weight is strongly influenced by parental genes. Genetic factors in childhood obesity show that children of obese parents are at greater risk of becoming obese due to genetic inheritance. Through genetic blood, childhood obesity can be transmitted or passed down through the family. As stated by Ogden (2011) 'Science shows that genetics play a role in obesity. Genes can directly cause obesity. In some cases, multiple genes can increase susceptibility to obesity.' Therefore, through inheriting genes directly from the blood, children can eventually acquire the trait of obesity. They have inherited genes from their parents that cause their bodies to gain weight easily childhood, the cause that has a strong impact on their life is something uncontrollable. Sometimes weight problems run in families, but not all children with a family history of obesity will develop obesity sooner or later children who have overweight family members may be at greater risk of being obese. Usually this results from eating behavior whereby the child perhaps copies the eating habits of his parents or siblings. Another cause that can lead to childhood obesity is lack of physical activity.Nowadays there are many children who do not get enough exercise. Their overall health and lack of physical activity to burn the excess calories from the unhealthy foods they are eating. Children have easy access to the web and transportation, which prevents them from going out and playing. They mostly spent their time in front of the television, playing games. Children receive transportation to and from school and this contributes to increased obesity rates due to a lack of additional physical activity. According to Berall (2002) “Ease of transportation, complicated by perceptions of unsafe neighborhoods, leads children to rarely walk to school” (p.326). As a result, children already aren't burning calories by choosing not to exercise and adding many more calories to their bodies. Children's bodies have difficulty burning calories when they find no opportunity to exercise. The reason is that children in today's society tend not to engage in physical activities because their days consist of long hours spent in front of the computer and television. Another cause that leads to childhood obesity is poor eating patterns and lifestyles. There are many children who end up developing higher rates of obesity because of the foods they are fed. They are exposed to advertising of unhealthy foods. Children are exposed to too many advertisements for less healthy foods and are eventually convinced to consume the product. Abundant television advertising is very influential and persuasive to children's minds. It is normal for children to watch excessive amounts of television. As he states, 337(13), 869-873.