Who is to Blame for Childhood Obesity? Childhood obesity has been a hot topic over the past few years. With this crisis on the rise, many are asking who is to blame. Is it the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)? Maybe it is the ad companies that promote sugar filled foods to catch the eye of young ones, as well as the food distributors. Some say it is the cafeteria’s fault in your local school. Others protest that it is the obese child’s parents who we should be blaming. Some love to blame it on their genetics, saying “It runs in the family, we are just heavy naturally”. The truth is, we can blame all of these factors, but really the responsibility falls on the government. The FDA website clearly shows their slogan that states, “U.S. Food and Drug Administration Protecting and Promoting Your Health” (fda.gov). Is the FDA really looking out for our health and even more so our children’s health? The FDA website says that when it comes to foods they are responsible for labeling and the safety of all food products (except meat and poultry). This means that the foods in your supermarket that are FDA approved are supposed to be safe, what does “safe” mean according to the FDA? Many of these products are not healthy. Not only are they not healthy, but they are targeting young children, which the FDA is responsible for labeling. As far as parents go, many of us aren’t educated enough and think that if it is FDA approved then it is healthy, after all, the FDA’s slogan is as stated above, “Protecting and Promoting Your Health”. The problem with childhood obesity can begin at birth for formula fed babies. Many infant formulas contain high amounts of sugar and corn syrup. Similac Sensitive EarlyShield Powder’s first two ingredients read “Corn Syrup Solids, Sugar (Sucrose)”. This is quite alarming! This means there is a higher amount of these