The Number of Overweight Children in Developed Countries Is Increasing - IELTS Task 2 Sample Essays

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Model Essay 1

The surge in childhood obesity across affluent nations is undeniable. While the proliferation of fast-food outlets shapes an “obesogenic” landscape, I contend that parental stewardship remains the more decisive determinant of a child’s health. This essay argues, first, that the commercial and built environments powerfully nudge poor choices; second, that parents—through daily routines, modelling, and boundaries—can counter those pressures more effectively than any storefront map suggests.

Commercial density matters because it continually lowers the friction of unhealthy decisions. Clusters of drive-throughs, aggressive price promotions, and cartoon-laden advertising exploit children’s impulse psychology and parents’ time poverty. Urban design compounds this: car-centric streets reduce walking, and long commutes compress time for cooking. Yet blaming outlets alone misconstrues causality. Retailers follow demand as much as they shape it; the mechanism is convenience plus habit, not mere proximity. Consider two districts with identical outlet density: the one with strong school meal standards, routine physical education, and norms around water rather than sugary drinks typically reports healthier weight trajectories. In short, the environment is a loud amplifier—but it does not write the score.

Parents, by contrast, set the household score: what enters the pantry, how portions are plated, when screens are off, and whether weekends include movement. Even under the same retail bombardment, families that pre-commit—weekly meal plans, fruit visible and snacks rationed, water as the default, desserts decoupled from rewards—teach children automaticity that outlasts advertising cycles. Community programmes repeatedly show this leverage: parent workshops on label-reading and bedtime consistency have reduced BMI z-scores without any change to the surrounding food retail. Socioeconomic constraints are real—shift work, tight budgets—but agency still exists in small, repeatable choices: bulk cooking legumes, choosing school-drop “park-and-stride,” negotiating one treat day rather than daily grazing, and modelling enjoyment of simple, active routines. Children internalise what adults normalise.

In sum, the ubiquity of fast food magnifies risk, but parental decisions—consistent, visible, and value-laden—are the strongest brake on childhood obesity. I therefore partly agree that outlet growth contributes, yet I more strongly agree that parental responsibility is paramount. Policy can prune the noise; parents must provide the melody through structure, modelling, and calm, repeated boundaries.

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Model Essay 2

The growing prevalence of childhood obesity in developed nations has become a defining public health challenge of the century. While some attribute this to the unchecked rise of fast-food culture, others believe that inadequate parental guidance is the deeper issue. I argue that both factors intertwine, yet the real roots lie in modern lifestyle patterns—sedentary habits, digital overexposure, and weakened nutritional education. This essay will explore how technology-driven inactivity and declining food literacy have redefined children’s health outcomes in today’s societies.

A crucial driver of rising childhood obesity is the sedentary lifestyle fostered by digital dependence. Modern children spend hours in front of screens—whether for entertainment, study, or social connection—replacing the physical activity that earlier generations naturally engaged in. The World Health Organization now lists “screen-time obesity” as a distinct emerging category, linking prolonged sitting to metabolic disorders even in young children. The situation is aggravated by the subtle marketing embedded in gaming platforms and streaming services that promote sugary drinks and processed snacks. For instance, studies in the United States show that children exposed to in-game food advertising consume nearly twice as many calories afterward. What makes this alarming is not just inactivity itself, but the behavioral conditioning it creates: food becomes entertainment, and boredom triggers eating. In this context, even health-conscious parents struggle to enforce boundaries, as digital leisure has become a cultural norm rather than an exception.

Equally influential is the erosion of nutritional awareness among both children and parents. Modern families, pressed for time, often prioritise convenience over comprehension—buying what is easy rather than what is nourishing. Food packaging, filled with misleading claims like “low fat” or “natural,” further confuses uninformed consumers. Unlike earlier decades when home-cooked meals dominated, today’s children grow up without understanding portion control, hidden sugars, or the difference between energy and nutrition. In the UK, for example, a 2023 survey revealed that fewer than one in five school-aged children could identify basic macronutrients in common foods. The issue is not only ignorance but cultural detachment: shared family meals—once a setting for dietary learning—are now replaced by solitary, distracted eating. Without consistent education from both schools and parents, children inherit poor habits that endure well into adulthood, entrenching the obesity epidemic.

In conclusion, the surge in childhood obesity stems less from the visible abundance of fast-food outlets and more from the invisible transformation of daily life. Sedentary digital routines and fading nutritional literacy have quietly reshaped how children eat, move, and think about health. While regulation and parental oversight matter, reversing this crisis requires rebuilding a culture that values movement, mindful eating, and informed choices from the earliest years.

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