The childhood obesity epidemic: Why excessive weight in children and adolescents has become a defining health crisis of the 21st century
Anna Schmidt
2026-03-17
4 min. read
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The data leaves no room for interpretation—Polish youth consistently ranks among the highest in European and global comparisons of excessive body weight across multiple age brackets. Far from being an issue confined to isolated individuals, this concern has evolved into a widespread phenomenon affecting entire generations. Childhood obesity is not merely a matter of cosmetic appearance or a transient developmental stage; it represents a severe public health threat that demands immediate, multifaceted intervention—spanning education, nutritional policies, and systemic healthcare reforms.
And what is obesity?
The definitions indicate that this is an unwanted increase in adipose tissue that is the result of malnutrition, which is to put it simply a child receives more food than he needs.
Obesity in children
It's important to remember that obese children are going to be obese adults. If a child's body weight is disrupted before the age of five, it will translate into a tendency to become obese in the future. This is related to metabolism, which is programmed to accumulate fat tissue early in life. Interestingly, obesity is associated with sleep. Studies in children between the ages of three and five have shown that increasing the number of hours of sleep helps reduce the risk of obesity, so it's very important to express the proper sleep habits in a child.
Obesity in youth
In the case of older children, too, it is not good. Data cited by the Electoral Gazette indicate that teenagers have low self-esteem, as 11% consider themselves obese, and 43% of girls and 33% of boys find themselves overweight. Given that young people often eat low-nutrient foods in their diets, young people shop and often eat sweet and high-calorie snacks, and avoid physical activity, this data should not surprise.
Obesity in children and adolescents is a cause
What are the possible causes of this phenomenon? quoting Dr. Walawski, who deals with childhood obesity: "Parents themselves often give their children money to buy sweets and snacks, which makes them fatter". By giving children a bad example, and by eating in front of the television and serving them daily low-nutrient, unhealthy, fattening products, we allow children to buy and consume these products themselves. Parents themselves are often giving their children their own money to purchase sweet and fatty foods, which contributes the most to their weight loss.
