Over the past decade, adolescents in America have neglected their health due to lack of eating and exercise habits. However, teenagers are not to blame if they become obese. Stress, depression, social pressure and grandparents' eating habits may be key factors in adolescent obesity. As a result, schools can change a teenager's life by encouraging healthier eating habits. If eating habits don't change, teenagers will become obese. In addition to poor eating habits, there are many factors that can cause obesity: lack of exercise, overeating, medications, genes, depression, stress and problems with family and peers ("Obesity in children and adolescents" par . 1-3). Over the past ten years, adolescent obesity has increased from 14.4% to 15.8% due to the activities and foods that adolescents put into their bodies (Collins Dana par. 4). For example, teenagers eat and spend more than half of their time watching TV, not eating enough fruits and vegetables, exercising and drinking too much soda. These factors cause 16-33% of children and adolescents to be obese ("Obesity in children and adolescents" par. 1-3). As a result, adolescents develop self-esteem problems, health problems, and social problems at home and school when they become obese. Furthermore, adolescents want to eat more because it makes them happy thanks to the release of dopamine, serotonin, leptin and ghrelin (Lawrenson par. 6; M. Radwan par. 8). Serotonin, leptin, ghrelin and dopamine play a vital role. in adolescents who become obese. They are released from the leptin-serotonin pathway, from the hypothalamus, from the stomach and from the intestine (S. Rowe and McNulty Walsh par. 1, 3; Mirkin par. 1; Streich par. 2; Martini and Bartholomew 276-277; Morse par. . 13 ). The importance of the leptin-serotonin pathway is that leptin suppresses hunger,...... half of the article...... How can I control stress-induced weight gain?. (2011): n. page. Network. 30 December 2011. "Adolescent depression". Statistics on adolescent depression. Adolescent depression and the Web. December 26, 2011. .TimePhotos. What makes you eat more food. Nd Photography. The network of time. 26 Dec 2011. .Widome, Rachel, Mary Story, Jess Haines, J. Peter Hannan, and Dianne Neumark-Sztainer. “American Journal of Public Health.” Eating when there is not enough to eat: Eating behaviors and food perceptions among food-insecure youth 99.5 (2009): 822-828. EbscoHost. Network. December 26 2011. .