Childhood Obesity

A recent USA Today article pointed out that a third of U.S. children and teens (about 25 million) are either overweight or are about to become so. This finding sets a new record for childhood obesity.

This information originates from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which is thought to be reliable because weight and height are actually measured.

Public health officials fear an explosion in obesity-related health problems such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Type 2 diabetes already is at an all-time high among children.

"I was surprised that we could see an upward trend in such a short time among overweight children," says lead researcher Cynthia Ogden, an epidemiologist with the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

A recent finding reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association indicated that 33.6% of children and teens, ages 2 to 19, were overweight or at risk of becoming so in 2004, up from 28.2% in 2000.

JAMA researchers also found that each hour increase in television viewing by youths was associated with an additional 167 calories and with increases in the consumption of foods commonly advertised on television.

"With this many children overweight now, we can only imagine that the great majority of this generation of children will be overweight or obese as adults," says Thomas Wadden, president of the Obesity Society, an organization of professionals working in obesity research, treatment and prevention.

"Time is running out. My hope is that these statistics will convince parents, community leaders and business leaders that they have to take obesity seriously and take steps to arrest its progression in children and teens."

As educators we must ask ourselves if we are doing enough to stem the problem. Are physical education classes required in your school? Are meals in your school's cafeteria nutritionally balanced with lower fat content a primary consideration? Is there a salad bar choice with low fat salad dressings? Is skim milk a choice? Are French fries the only starch offering? And when foods are fried, are oils used healthy? Are teachers spending enough time encouraging students to think about good food choices?

We can all do more to stem this epidemic that is setting children up for sedentary life styles and early onset of serious diseases such as heart, cancer and diabetes

The Advantage Press offers through its Academic Learning Packet series information on nutrition, health and wellness.