Remember those mornings watching cartoons with a breakfast of a sugary bowl of cereal, hours and hours on the couch eating chips and playing video games, in the afternoon watching a movie with the family next to a mega screen, soda and popcorn, frozen dinners in the evening followed by numerous hours of surfing the internet and finally bed. Overall, this mixture of inactivity and voracious eating, shared by many American children, has contributed to the growth over time of an epidemic that is one of the leading causes of death in America: obesity. Childhood obesity has reached pandemic proportions in America. As a result, overweight children are much more likely to become overweight adults unless they adopt and maintain healthier eating patterns and some type of physical activity. The most common causes are genetic factors, lack of physical activity and unhealthy eating patterns. Obese children have easy access to sugary drinks and less healthy foods on school campuses. At home, obese children have limited access to affordable, healthy, nutritious foods. The fast food industry also plays an important role in children's nutrition, not only by increasing portion sizes, but also by advertising healthier foods. In addition to advertising, television viewing also contributes to childhood obesity, taking time away from children to engage in physical activities. When it comes to physical activities, children today get very little exercise and sometimes even no exercise at all. Nowadays, walks to and from school have been replaced by car and bus trips, and gym classes and after-school sports and activities have been eliminated in most American schools. It is an epidemic that is rapidly growing and destroying the lives of many innocent children in the United States. First Lady Michelle Obama states that “…half of the newspaper…journalist Katherine Kam states that “eating disorders in children and adolescents can lead to a variety of serious physical problems and even death.” In conclusion , childhood obesity can also be caused by psychological and mental problems. Childhood obesity has grown and continues to grow in the United States causing many deaths among children. Children should eat healthy and do some kind of physical activity in their style of daily life, but for this to happen parents must be educated with the right nutritional values. In the United States, childhood obesity can be prevented by many different methods. Most researchers and doctors agree that physical exercise and adequate nutrition are essential for obesity and a healthy lifestyle. Schools should focus on behavior modification, improving nutrition and increasing physical activities. Childhood obesity will not only affect children, but it will also affect America.