According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), approximately 17 percent of American children are considered obese, a number that has more than tripled since the 1970s. In fact, not only are more children becoming overweight and obese, but, according to The Obesity Society, they are also becoming heavier than obese children in years past, a fact that puts them at a five-times-higher risk of being overweight or obese as adults. As a result, childhood obesity has now become the nation's most prevalent nutritional disorder among children and teens.