Obesity is a complicated contemporary disease that can be simply defined as having an excessive amount of body fat to the point it starts to cause health problems. Therefore, obesity is not only a superficial or beauty concern as one may contemplate, but it also encompasses hidden dangerous health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and certain types of cancers. In fact, obesity has become a huge problem to the point it is considered a global epidemic (Barness, Opitz, & GilbertBarness, 2007). According to World Health Organization (WHO) obesity is identified when the Body Mass Index (BMI) of a person is 30 or higher; and in order to calculate person’s (BMI) you have to divide the weight in kilograms by the square of height in meters. The BMI accuracy is derived from the charts that take into account the gender and age of a person and compare them to their peers (Barness, Opitz, & GilbertBarness, 2007), more specifically, when we are talking about the obesity problem in children we are talking about one of the most critical and important global health concern of the 21th century that threaten current
and future generations. Childhood obesity is a multifaceted health issue. It arises when a child is well above the normal or healthy weight for his or her age and height. Furthermore, childhood obesity can have long lasting adverse health effects as well as short term adverse health effects on the childrens life as they will be in danger of suffering from various health complications and diseases such as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, sleep apnea, type 2 diabetes, asthma, cardiovascular disease and poor learning skills, The World Health Organization (WHO) experts have estimated that there are 43 million overweight children under the age of five around the world, and by 2025 more than 60% of global disease burden will be the direct result of obesity and obesity related complications. There is an ongoing debate as to what causes obesity exactly. However, according to Ells et al, (2005) obesity is a result from several factors that exist in the same person and contribute to causing obesity, factors like; socioeconomic status, special educational needs, environmental factors, genetics, personal lifestyle and health care services.