How extensive is childhood obesity in America? Kent L. Bradley, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Safeway, indicates that this generation of children may be the first to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. The program cites the White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity – Report to the President: Solving the Problem of Childhood Obesity Within a Generation stating, “…approximately one in five children are obese by the time they reach their sixth birthday, and over half of these children become overweight at or before age two.”