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Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder starts while a person is very young and is seen in as many as 1 in 200 children and adolescents. Many studies have been performed and articles written, such as this one by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, on the subject of child cases of OCD. Many children never even mention their compulsive behavior to adults, because they are afraid of embarassment. Many of these cases can swell and become worse and worse.
Many theories point to OCD beginning in children who have family members that have small cases of OCD. This becomes a learned behavior by the child and is not thought of as peculiar by the kid. It is a normal action that you learn like how to use your fork and knife or how to tie your shoe. In some cases, the behavior nevers becomes too much of a burden. Most of us have certain ways to do things that we learn from our parents, and though they may seem strange to others do not affect our lives strongly. Unfortunately, when the behaviors begin to take over their lives and they need to adjust everything around their obsessions, it is usually more difficult to treat their case of OCD.
Another idea is that children from stressful housholds can develop OCD. Stress has been attributed to many different disorders, but there are specific reasons why OCD occurs. For example, if a parent forces a child to clean himself after playing outside because otherwise they will get sick, some children may start to go overboard cleaning themselves because they are afraid of what their parents said. One such example is Bess: http://www.psychohelp.at/h/college/abnormal/ocd.shtml
whose mother was very strict with her and eventually caused Bess to become outcast from the rest of her class mates. Shortly thereafter she was diagnosed with OCD.
Here is an example of a child with OCD: Darcie, who was featured on the Oprah Winfrey show, is afraid of germs, but also has a rather strange OCD symptom called Body Dysmorphic Disorder where she feels trapped in a mirror.
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