What is the cause of obesity in children?

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William McCarthy
Medical Director, Nova ABC Weight Loss Clinic, NOVA ABC Weight Loss Clinic
www.novaabc.com  
703-494-1020

Dr. William McCarthy is the Medical Director at the NOVA ABC Weight Loss Clinic

Dr. McCarthy has been in private medical practice in the Northern Virginia area since 1976.  He received a BS (Magna cum laude) at Xavier University in Cincinnati, his M.D. degree at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C, and served his internship and residency in Family Practice at the University of Wisconsin Hospitals in Madison, Wisconsin. Dr. McCarthy is board certified in bariatric medicine, which is the medical specialty of weight  disorders.  At this time, there are only approximatly 300 board certified bariatricians in the United States.

 
 He has served as the Chief of Staff and board member of Potomac Hospital here in Woodbridge.  He founded the nationally recognized Continuing Medical Education program at Potomac Hospital and served as it director for over twenty years.  He has been repeatedly voted by his peers as one of the top physicians in the D.C area in the Washington Consumer Checkbook.  Dr. McCarthy has also served as a board member of the Northern Virginia Foundation for Health and Medical Care and on the board of Physician’s Care insurance.  He was the team physician for the Prince William professional baseball team for many years, chosen by the Pirates, Yankees, Cardinals, and White Sox.   Dr. McCarthy has an outstanding reputation as a physician and educator, known not only for his broad knowledge of medicine, but also as a compassionate and caring physician.  After years of treating the health consequences that were brought on by excess weight, Dr. McCarthy decided to shift the focus of his care to the treatment and prevention of the actual cause of these medical problems.  Dr. McCarthy has attended numerous conferences, intensively studied the most current medical literature, and has spent time working with well known, experienced bariatricians in order to enhance his knowledge in the science of weight loss, metabolism, nutrition, exercise, and behavioral aspects of weight control.  He now dedicates his experience and knowledge to those who lives and health are adversely affected by their excess weight.

What is the cause of obesity in children?

This video is about obesity and weight issues in our society, which is now recognized by the medical profession as the world's #1 health problem. I will answer your questions about the impact of excess weight; the consequences and what can be done about it.

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Transcripts

Host: What is the cause of the problem in children?

Dr. William McCarthy: Primarily, the cause of overweight and obesity in children is pretty much the same as in adult. We are seeing changes in eating habits, we are seeing more fast foods, larger serving sizes.

Children are tending to eat a lot more in a way of soft drinks and snack foods. Many children, the majority of their calories actually come from soft drinks or snack foods. We are also seeing major changes in physical activity. Children are not newly as active as they were in past, children are putting more and more time in front of television screen or computer screen.

They average child spends up to 20-30 hours per week in front of a television set or a computer screen and if they are watching T.

V. they may see, 40000 ads or more that are advertising for breakfast cereals also snack foods, soft drinks.

We also see these things such as snacks food and soft drinks they are available quite frequently in schools, children have far more access to these, these days and so, what we are seeing is the same trend in children as we are seeing in adults, this persistent tendency towards obesity and overweight.

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