American obesity rates are the highest in the world. Sixty-eight percent of adults are categorized as overweight, one-third of them are diagnosed as clinically obese. There are nearly 7 million overweight and obese children in the U.S. today. Childhood obesity statistics show that obese children have a 70% chance of becoming obese adults. The percentage increases to 80% if either one or both parents is obese as well.

According to the CDC, this rate is on the rise in the U.S. and has almost tripled in the last three decades. In the 1950s, it was rare to find an overweight child in any school system. It just wasn’t tolerated. Today, the school yard is filled with them.

American children did not get fat overnight nor did some mosquito spread a deadly virus that causes childhood obesity. Eating until becoming obese is now the leader in American addictions surpassing cigarettes and alcohol.

The causes of food cravings, overeating, addiction, delayed food intolerance in newborns, infants and toddlers is the dangerous addictive chemicals used by food manufacturers. These chemicals are used by food manufacturers in baby food to cause the compulsive/obsessive eating that leads to obesity.

Food colorings, MSG, pesticides, factory farmed meats, genetically modified fruits and vegetables and other additives have been linked to a range of health problems in children including allergic reactions, headaches, asthma, growth retardation and hyperactivity.

The list of childhood maladies arising from these additives grows with each independent research study.

Many scientists suggest that chemicals in food are the principal cause of childhood learning disabilities.

For example, in his book, The End of Overeating, former FDA commissioner David Kessler charges food companies with deliberately manipulating the chemical composition of their products to make them addictive to people with vulnerable brain chemistries – i.e., children. Other experts believe that food additives have contributed to the rise in attention deficit disorders in both children and adults.

All packaged baby food contains MSG unless labeled “organic”. According to Michael Goodspeed in his article, MSG In Baby Food - It Doesn’t Get Any Worse Than This, “In the second half of the twentieth-century, the United States of America experienced a dramatic, unprecedented increase in neurologic and psychiatric illness among its young people.”

Mr. Goodspeed goes on to state, “Given the vulnerability of the developing brain in infancy, one can’t help but wonder if children are being permanently impaired by early exposure to the chemicals.... “

If an expectant mother eats addictive foods and ingredients regularly, there is a 99% certainty her offspring will suffer from food addiction, cravings and possible childhood illness and disease. Food addiction starts in vitro.

To date the FDA has done nothing about the early age at which American children are being exposed to numerous harmful substances nor about the consequences of these chemicals on pregnant mothers and their fetuses.

It is vital for the health of the fetus that a pregnant woman eat a chemical-free organic diet. Once on an organic diet the mother should never return to the well of fast food and packaged food addiction after the child is born.

A child’s health is as precious as gold and must be protected in the most important arena of survival – the food, liquids, vitamins and minerals they ingest.

Author's Bio: 

Mannie Barling is a lawyer, author and businessman who spent more than thirty years practicing law in the Greater Los Angeles Area. In the 1970s, Mr. Barling served as in-house counsel to two of the first HMOs in Los Angeles including one that treated more than 13,000 patients a month. Mr. Barling actively participated in the management of these clinics as well as convalescent hospitals including reviewing all medical matters from PSRO (Patient Review Standards Organizations), physician utilization, interviewing doctors, specialists and evaluating malpractice claims.

Mr. Barling helped pioneer Medical Outreach programs and health fairs throughout South Central Los Angeles and Inglewood. He also lobbied on behalf of the clinics and hospitals in the state capital on issues involving changes in health law, patient reimbursements, hospital and clinic claims for payment from Medical and Medicare with such luminaries as health expert Carl Weissburg and Edward L. Masry of Erin Brokovich fame.

Throughout the 1980s, Mr. Barling continued to form and participate in the day to day management of medical practices, clinics and ancillary service companies such as X-rays, laboratories and physical therapy units.

Throughout the 1900s, Mr. Barling represented the largest factor of medical accounts receivables across the United States negotiating agreements involving the purchase, operation and management of hospitals, clinics and private practices throughout Southern California. At the same time, Mr. Barling was involved in every phase of restoring an acute care hospital in East Los Angeles and seven clinics serving the Latino community from its insolvency at the time of purchase to becoming a $100 million a year medical practice serving the eastside of Los Angeles and parts of Orange County.

Along the way, Mr. Barling represented Fortune 400 businessmen, actors, motion picture production companies as well as serving as a voting member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He has also served as a judge pro tem and Arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association arbitrating important cases such as the Los Angeles Tennis Center on UCLA’s campus and condominiums in the revived Bunker Hills area situated in downtown Los Angeles.

Mr. Barling’s first book on health, Taking Control of Your Life, Gout, Crohn’s Disease and Irritable Bowl Syndrome, a Journey to Wellness, is based upon his personal experiences with the treatment of colon cancer and other digestive diseases. Mr. Barling’s second book, Arthritis, Gout, Crohn’s, IBD and IBS coauthored with Ashley F. Brooks, provides answers and illumination for the 79 million plus Americans who suffer the debilitating effects of Crohn’s Disease, IBS, IBD, ulcerative colitis and the secondary diagnosis of arthritis, gout and gouty arthritis.

The authors’ latest book, It’s Not Your Fault – Weight Gain, Obesity and Food Addiction is now available at HowtoEliminatePain.com, Amazon and booksellers everywhere.