With heart disease being the nations number one killer, parents often worry about the obesity risk factor of their children for their future health.

Pediatrician Eric Jones explains that childhood obesity does have an adverse affect on a child's future health-but it's also affecting their health right now-including their bones and joints. "They have lots and lots of problems with their joints, especially their lower back and their knees."

Dr. Jones says for children, bone and cartilage is still in the process of developing and therefore can't handle a lot of weight, which can present some orthopedic problems. "We see a lot of the overweight children having problems with their walking or complaining of their back hurting all of the time."

Dr. Jones also says that if your child complains of pains - use it to their advantage by letting them know what may be causing their pain and offer a solution. "And in kids usually we don't use diets. We try to get them to exercise more which is obviously very healthy for your bones and joints in most cases."

Mother of two April Richard says "I try to limit the amount of time that they watch TV and play video games."

Over the last 30 years, the rate of obesity in our country has more than doubled for preschoolers and teens and has more than tripled for children 6 through 11.

One recent study found that 13 percent of overweight kids had at least one broken bone at some point in their lives, compared with less than 4 percent of ideal-weight children.