As the fast food industry targets young Americans, providing healthier options on children's menus will reduce the rate of childhood obesity and enable a healthy future. According to "Burger Battles" from the Weekly Reader, obesity is defined as a person whose weight is 20% greater than the recommended weight for his or her height (Burger Battles 1). When this condition begins to affect children's lives, it is called childhood obesity. In the United States of America, approximately 15% of children are considered obese (Holguin 3). Increasing greatly, this epidemic has actually tripled the number of obese teenagers and doubled in children up to the age of thirteen (Burger Battles 2). One of the factors that is usually overlooked in the cause of obesity is the role of television. Not only does it reduce the amount of physical activity, but the advertisements and commercials target innocent bystanders. In a survey completed by Gary Ruskin of Commercial Alert, the average child watches nearly 19 hours and 40 minutes of television per week (Ruskin 2). With all this time spent watching television, fast food advertisements will enter the minds of children. Commercials make the viewer think about the advertised product. Due to the amount of television children watch throughout the week, this allows children to be exposed to information over and over again. Every year, children are known to watch thousands of fast food commercials. On a daily basis, a teenager will typically see five advertisements and a child between the ages of six and eleven will see approximately four advertisements (Burger Battles 4). Companies use this strategy to “speak directly to children” (Ruskin 3). Although large businesses are in quick consideration... middle of paper... the most serious of all is the possibility of death due to one of the diseases. Focusing on customer well-being should be the main goal of any large company, especially fast food companies. By reducing the amount of unhealthy choices for children and replacing them with nutritional foods, the nation's youth will benefit. Works Cited “Burger Battles.” Weekly reader. December 6, 2010: 4. SIRS Discoverer. Network. May 8, 2011.Holguin, Jaime. "Fast food linked to childhood obesity." CBSnews.com. CBS News, January 5, 2003. Web. May 8, 2011. Paul, Maya W. "Healthy Fast Foods." Help guide. Help Guide, September 10, 2010. Web. May 9, 2011. Ruskin, Gary. “The Fast Food Trap: How Commercialism Creates Overweight Children.” Commercialalert.org. Commercial Alert, October 31, 2003. Web. May 8, 2011.Zinczenko, David. Eat this, not that for kids. New York: Rodale, 2008. Print.