What does the New Year mean to you. For kids it often means no more than a dearth of presents until their birthday and an end to eating chocolate for breakfast. For the young, full of the joys of life, the change from 2012 to 2013 isn't so much an arbitrary date to change their lifestyles as it it for us more bitter adults.

The epidemic of childhood obesity in many countries across the globe, particularly the US, is hardly breaking news. However, with the link between one of the biggest killers, type 2 diabetes, and obesity, there is at least one serious health condition that needs to be tackled alongside the issue of kids getting fitter and not fatter.

Teenage boys feeling under pressure to have a ripped and pumped up physique might be the reason that more of them are working out to gain extra muscle. A recent study highlights what could be worrying signs of this teenage focus. Meanwhile, a different study suggests that muscle strength in teenage boys could be a predictor for general fitness which links to a longer life.

Fat children seem to be a sign of the times and an unfortunate byproduct of modern day society in the West. It’s a weighty issue not just for youngsters themselves but society as a whole. Obesity in kids has tripled in the US in the last 30 years and around 20% of kids are obese and more than a third are either overweight or obese.

Children in the US are spending on average around four hours a day watching TV according to a new study and the worry with modern-day family life is that kids are spending less and less time being active. With video games, movies and urban life centered around the home as an entertainment and leisure zone it’s perhaps not surprising.