Obesity rates in the United States are alarming, with more than one-third of U.S. adults and 17 percent of children qualifying as obese by BMI greater than 30.0 (Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 2015). Even more frightening is the growth rate of this crippling health epidemic; between 1980 and 2014, obesity doubled for adults and tripled for children (CDC, 2015). The physical consequences of increasing obesity rates in our country include numerous physical ailments including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, sleep apnea, arthritis, elevated cholesterol, and even some cancers. Additionally, obesity-related health care costs to our country are estimated at $147 billion per year, plus the costs of lost productivity at work and in the community (CDC, 2015). With 300,000 annual deaths attributable to obesity, it remains a leading cause of premature death in America (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS), n.d.). Although obesity is widespread across all socioeconomic and cultural groups, there are certainly social factors that contribute to this health condition. Non-Hispanic Blacks have the highest rates of obesity, followed by Hispanics and then Whites (CDC, 2015). Furthermore, links between obesity and poverty have also been suggested (Bellafante, 2013). While this is a national crisis, disparities in distress across different socioeconomic and ethnic groups demonstrate the strong influence of social determinants of health and the need for upstream interventions to combat this growing disease, particularly in vulnerable children. The threat seems overwhelming as young people face the obstacles of poor nutrition and inactivity, compounded by society's failure to protect them, and with... half of paper...... in school lunches, lawmakers say. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from: http://articles.latimes.com/2012/oct/11/nation/la-na-nn-congress-school-lunch-20121011Stanhope, M., Lancaster, J. (2012). Public health nursing: population-centered health care in the community. Other: Maryland Heights, MO. US Department of Health and Human Services (USDHH). (n.d.). Office of the Surgeon General. Overweight and obesity: health consequences. Retrieved from: http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/calls/obesity/fact_consequences.html'We Are Hungry:' Students Protest Lunch Guidelines in YouTube Video. (September 26, 2012) FoxNews.com. Retrieved from: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/09/26/high-school-students-parody-new-school-lunch-guidelines-in-youtube-video/We Are Hungry. September 17, 2012. YouTube. Retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IB7NDUSBOo