Some research suggests that the increase in availability of junk foods in schools can account for about one-fifth of the increase in average BMI among adolescents over the last decade. Eating at fast food restaurants is very common among young people with 75% of 7th to 12th grade students consuming fast food in a given week. The fast food industry is also at fault for the rise in childhood obesity. This industry spends about $4.2 billion on advertisements aimed at young children. McDonalds alone has thirteen websites that are viewed by 365,000 children and 294,000 teenagers each month. In addition, fast food restaurants give out toys in childrens meals, which helps to entice children to buy the fast food. According to a 2010 report, 40% of children aged 2 to 11 asked their parents to take them to McDonalds at least once a week, and 15%of preschoolers asked to go every day. To make matters worse, out of 3000 combinations created from popular items on childrens menus at fast food restaurants, only 13 meet the recommended nutritional guidelines for young children. Some literature has found a relationship between fast food consumption and obesity. Including a study which found that fast food restaurants near schools increases the risk of obesity among the student population.Whole milk consumption verses 2% milk consumption in children of one to two years of age had no effect on weight, height, or body fat percentage. Therefore, whole milk continues to be recommended for this age group.
Researchers also did a cohort study on 19,397 babies, from their birth until age seven and discovered that high weight babies at four months were 1.38 times more likely to be overweight at seven years old compared to normal weight babies. High weight babies at the age of one were 1.17 times more likely to be overweight at age seven compared to normal weight babies. Medical illness
Cushings syndrome (a condition in which the body contains excess amounts of cortisol) may also influence childhood obesity. Researchers analyzed two isoforms (proteins that have the same purpose as other proteins, but are programmed by different genes) in the cells of 16 adults undergoing abdominal surgery. They discovered that one type of isoform created oxo-reductase activity (the alteration of cortisone to cortisol) and this activity increased 127.5 pmol mg sup when the other type of isoform was treated with cortisol and insulin. The activity of the cortisol and insulin can possibly activate Cushings syndrome.Hypothyroidism is a hormonal cause of obesity, but it does not significantly affect obese people who have it more than obese people who do not have it. In a comparison of 108 obese patients with hypothyroidism to 131 obese patients without hypothyroidism, researchers discovered that those with hypothyroidism had only 0.077 points more on the caloric intake scale than did those without hypothyroidism. Psychological factors
Researchers surveyed 1,520 children, ages 9–10, with a four-year follow up and discovered a positive correlation between obesity and low self-esteem in the four-year follow up.