American children are under threat from their own fat, with obesity so common that its effects have wiped out many other health gains. Obesity is the single most widespread health problem facing children today. When being overweight is included in a statistical profile of how children are faring, health well-being falls nearly 15 percent below 1975 levels. At least 15 percent of U.S. children are overweight, putting them at risk of heart disease, diabetes and some forms of cancer as adults. This is a major problem and one that is most unfortunate since childhood obesity is completely preventable and reversible.
Reuters March 24, 2004