Much as it is important to stay persistent and congruent when it comes to a scientifically grounded and socially acceptable definition of healthiness, the trend of overweight children percentage growth during the recent decade does look quite disturbing. The causes and effects of this tendency though might appear to be even grimmer still.
The phenomenon may be better understood through the lens of its ground and origin, so it makes sense to first pay attention to the actual reasons. Undoubtedly, the vast fast food industry along with the overwhelmingly sugary diet so common among children even of frighteningly early age is the number one reason for that. Then, apart from what they eat, equivalently important is the meal process, which consists of when, where, and how. Concerning that I can sadly conclude that eating behavior has hardly recently gotten better and the state it is currently in leaves all the doctors and nutritionists wishing and hoping for the best. A seemingly infinite number of information sources should have come to aid parents and their children around the world to have opportunities to eat healthy, though the effect seems to be contrary, leaving many people in perilously unhealthy consuming cycles. A higher overall stress pressure also expectedly adds to that. Thus, virtually all the aspects of modern everyday life weaken the basis of a balanced diet among children.
Proceeding from the understanding of the causes to the effects, we see that while not being dangerous per se, excess weight and a faulty diet entail many severe and dangerous conditions like cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and even psychological issues. With the given dynamics, one can only hope the negative trend progression will be arithmetical and not geometrical.