IELTS Task 2 sample essay: Childhood Obesity
Problem / solutionHealth
The question
Obesity rates are rising among children. What are the causes of this problem and what solutions can you suggest?
Try writing your own answer first, then compare. Reading a model before you write tends to make you copy it.
The plan
Position: Causes: cheap unhealthy food and inactive lifestyles. Solutions matched to each.
- Cause 1: processed food is cheap and heavily marketed. Solution: tax sugary drinks, fund healthy school meals.
- Cause 2: children move less. Solution: daily physical activity in school, safer routes to walk and cycle.
Model answer
279 wordsChildhood obesity has risen sharply in many countries over recent decades. This is largely the result of cheap, unhealthy food and increasingly inactive lifestyles, and it can best be tackled by changing the environment children grow up in rather than relying on willpower alone.
The first cause is the food children are surrounded by. Processed snacks and sugary drinks are cheap, widely available and heavily advertised, while fresh fruit and vegetables often cost more and take longer to prepare. Busy parents who work long hours understandably rely on ready meals and takeaways, and children quickly develop a taste for food high in sugar and fat. The second cause is a lack of physical activity. Many children are driven to school, spend breaks indoors and pass their evenings in front of screens, so they burn far fewer calories than previous generations did.
The solutions should match these causes. To change what children eat, governments could tax sugary drinks, as several countries already do, and use the revenue to provide healthy school meals. If the healthy choice is also the cheap and easy one, families will make it more often. To increase activity, schools could guarantee a period of exercise every day, and local councils could create safe walking and cycling routes so that more children travel to school on foot or by bike.
Education has a role too, but information alone rarely changes habits. Children are more likely to eat well and stay active when their surroundings make it normal.
In conclusion, childhood obesity stems mainly from unhealthy food and inactivity. Making healthy food affordable and building activity into the school day are the most effective ways to reverse it.
Scored by the MyBandPrep checker on 7 October 2026. An estimate, not an examiner’s mark. How scoring works
Why it works
- Task Response
- Both parts (causes and solutions) are fully answered, and each solution is explicitly matched to a cause.
- Coherence and Cohesion
- “The solutions should match these causes” tells the reader exactly how the essay is organised; reference keeps it cohesive.
- Lexical Resource
- Precise topic vocabulary: “processed snacks”, “burn fewer calories”, “revenue”.
- Grammatical Range and Accuracy
- Accurate conditionals and complex sentences, with a natural mix of shorter sentences.
Phrases worth reusing
- changing the environment children grow up in
- develop a taste for
- burn far fewer calories
- If the healthy choice is also the cheap and easy one
- information alone rarely changes habits
Compare: a band 6 version
239 wordsThe same question, answered the way many essays stuck at band 6 are. Read it, then the notes below.
Nowadays, obesity is a big problem in many countries, especially among children. There are several causes of this problem, and there are also some solutions that can help.
The main cause of childhood obesity is fast food. Children eat a lot of fast food such as burgers, pizza and fried chicken because it is delicious and cheap, and it is easy to buy everywhere. In addition, many parent are very busy at work so they don't have time to cook healthy food for their children. Another cause is that children do not do enough exercise. They spend many hours playing video games and using their phones instead of playing outside. Because of this, they gain weight and they can have serious health problems.
There are some solutions for this problem. Firstly, the government should control fast food restaurants, for example by closing the restaurants near schools. Secondly, parents should cook healthy meals at home and give to their children fruits and vegetables. Thirdly, schools should give students more sports lesson and teach them about healthy food. Finally, children should spend less time on their phones and computers.
If the government, parents and schools work together, the number of obese children will be decrease. This is important because healthy children will become healthy adults.
In conclusion, childhood obesity is caused by fast food and lack of exercise. The government, parents and schools must work together to solve this serious problem.
What holds it back
- Grammar slips throughout: “many parent”, “give to their children fruits”, “will be decrease”, “sports lesson”.
- Both parts are answered, but solutions are listed without explaining how they would work or who would pay for them.
- Solutions are not linked to the causes, so the essay reads as two separate lists.
- Firstly, Secondly, Thirdly, Finally: mechanical sequencing in place of developed ideas.
- Some solutions are unrealistic or vague (“closing the restaurants near schools”, “spend less time on their phones”).
- Vocabulary is adequate but simple, with repetition of “healthy”, “food” and “children”.
Now write your own
Answer this question in 40 minutes and get an estimated band with the sentences to fix.