In the United States, child obesity has gone from being a big problem to an epidemic of gigantic proportions. This problem shows no signs of shrinking.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recently issued new clinical guidelines addressing the childhood obesity crisis. In addition to various weight-loss medications, medical doctors are also encouraged to offer the option of surgery to obese children. But the guidelines fail to discuss the root causes of childhood obesity.

The U.S. is home to 330 million people, including roughly 75 million children. Alarmingly, 15 million of these children are obese. Obese children are very likely to become obese adults. As Dr. Jeremy Daigle, a pediatrician and acting director of the Healthy Active Living Program at Advocate Medical, recently commented, the physical shape of a child at the age of six “can actually be a determining factor for what their future looks like.”