Children Left Vulnerable to Obesity Through Food Miseducation, Warns Doctor

Doctor says childhood obesity is a cultural problem that requires societal solutions beyond policy, starting at conception

Experts say involving children in growing, shopping for, preparing, and cooking food provides invaluable nutrition education to combat childhood obesity. fizkes/Shutterstock

The path to childhood obesity begins before birth and gets more complicated as children become the targets of food marketers who promise delicious fun with processed foods made with questionable and even disease-causing ingredients.

Parents—many victims of the same influences—may hope schools and governments will educate and protect their children, but the reality is that parents are largely on their own.