High blood pressure, high cholesterol, and insulin resistance aren’t just affecting older people. Today, these conditions are being diagnosed in children. Up to one out of every five children in the U. S. is overweight or obese, and this number is continuing to grow. Children become overweight and obese for a variety of reasons. The most common causes are genetic factors, lack of physical activity, unhealthy eating patterns, or a combination of these factors. John Lantos, MD, Director of the Children’s Mercy Pediatric Bioethics Center, and Meredith Dreyer, PhD, clinical psychologist, with the Children’s Mercy Weight Management Department, and the Associate Director of the Center for Children’s Healthy Lifestyles and Nutrition at Children’s Mercy, discuss how you can help to overcome obesity in your own family.