No Obese children are a result of Low energy espenditure(no exercise),bad diet,heredity,and bad examples. So because you are or have a single parent isnt the reason a child becomes obese, If you are or your parent is obese with a bad diet and does not exercise by example the child is more likely to follow in the parents footsteps and eat bad and not exercise and thus become obese. Can no home meals result in obesity yes and also health risks, Children who eat out may have higher blood pressure, cholesterol and other heart risk factors than those who eat home cooked meals.

Possibly obese children are a direct result of a decline in the provision of home-cooked meals, but I doubt that this has very much to do with the increase in one-parent families. In my experience modern two-parent families are equally likely to feed their children on a diet of takeaways, fast food and ready meals. Many single parents are in fact more likely to provide home-cooked meals, due to their lower family income and the relative budget-frendliness of cooked-from-scratch meals. EDIT john: Its an interesting point. In certain cases and areas I think its true- but I think its a bit more complex than just single parenthood being a direct cause of obesity. I think wher ethis is the case (In the UK at least)- single mothers with obese children tend to be those who had their children whilst not in a long term relationship or marriage, and whilst very young. In the UK in many cases this covers girls who had children when young and single on purpose in order to gain a) state benefits and b) an oppurtunity to be valued due to low-achievement at school and few job oppurtunities. These young women are often poorly educated and I think it is this, and the resulting ignorance about nutrition and health issues, rather than their single status, that contributes to their children's obesity. On the other hand, parents who become single parents through accident rather than design (and normally when a little older) - through being left by their partner after the children were born for example, tend not to show the same tendencies. Unfortunately I can't find any stats that directly link childhood obesity with family structure, which is a shame. But these are my personal observations- hope they're of some use.

I don't believe that there is a direct co-relation between single-parent households, fewer home-cooked meals and obesity. Many such families are low-income and probably can't afford to eat out too often. That said, there are a few factors that could be indirectly related. The cheaper cuts of meat such as regular hamburger, that low-income families can better afford, obviously have a higher fat content. Many other cheap foods also have a high fat content. If the parent must leave the home to go to work before the children have breakfast, the kids might well forage for less nutritious food than what the parent might have given them - high-sugar cereal, toast with lots of peanut butter, etc. The same thing might happen after school - the child is home alone and eats and drinks less nutritious food. The child is also more likely to be house-bound after school, partly for safety reasons, and will watch TV or play video games until the parent returns from work, rather than be outside engaging in physical activity. The single parent is less likely to be able to afford to have the child participate in after-school activities that cost money and might keep the child active. The same thing applies during weekends, when the parent is home but unable to afford to register the child in sports or other healthy entertainment. Unless there is an indoor pool nearby or a basketball court or community centre close to home, the child of a low-income single parent is unlikely to take part in enough physical activity to maintain a healthy body weight, given all the other factors working against it. The more children there are in the single parent family, the more these factors are compounded. A single parent who is exhausted by juggling the many roles of provider, health care worker, homework supervisor, home handyperson, cook, bottle washer, etc., is unlikely to have any energy left to engage in a lot of conflict with the children about what they eat. Sometimes, it's just a relief to know that there is enough food in the house for the children to have the luxury of actually choosing what they want to eat. Don't be too hard on a low-income single parent until you've been one yourself. On the other hand, was the father of the children a rail or a butterball in his genetic make-up?

Television and computers have become babysitters for parents. Family time and dinners have become non-existent with the majority. With today's time pressured society everything is squeezed in. Dinner is made from a box or handed out through a fast food window. Food is plastic, and it is forming a blubbery plastic LAZY world who would rather run their car in line for 15 minutes sitting on their cozy butts than to take the 5 foot walk to the counter... which is usually empty. Enjoy!

Yes, its due to no home cooked food but I don't think it's got anything to do with one-parent family unless you're implying that the mothers should stay at home and cook and the father earns.