Caption: Concurrently with rising obesity rates, researchers have noted changes that have reduced energy expenditure for children. This includes less walking to school and more travel in cars; changes in the built environment and in parents' work lives that make it more difficult for children to engage in safe, unsupervised (or lightly supervised) physical activity; and possibly more time spent in sedentary activities, such as viewing television, using computers, and playing video games. Many complementary changes have simultaneously increased calorie consumption by children and decreased their physical activity.
