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Child obesity rate triples
Published November 27, 2005
WALTON COUNTY — In 2000, 15 percent of children and adolescents between the ages of 6 and 19 were overweight, which was a 4 percent increase from 1994, according to the Center for Disease Control.
The CDC also said that since 1980, the percentage of children who are overweight has nearly tripled. Now, about eight million young Americans, which is almost 15 percent of all children, are overweight.
The surgeon general said that an estimated 25 percent of white children are obese, whereas 35 percent of black and Hispanic children are obese.
Kidsource.com defines childhood obesity as an excessive accumulation of body fat; obesity is present when total body weight is more than 25 percent fat in boys and more than 32 percent fat in girls.
Walton Public Schools Nutrition Director Sheryll Childers said besides having snack machines in the schools, much of this problem comes from the home.
“We only feed the children breakfast and lunch, and that’s only 180 days a year, but parents work and would often pick up fast foods or would even go to grocery stores and buy pre-packaged foods,” Childers said. “Plus a lot of schools have gotten rid of physical education classes, but we are trying to bring it back to our schools.”
A study done by Mom Central shows that lack of exercise and poor eating habits are the two main causes of this problem, and that less than one percent of obesity in children is caused by medical conditions.
“Establishing healthy eating and exercise habits are the key to a healthy lifestyle and need to begin early,” Childers said.
Momcentral.com said that some ways that parents can help prevent childhood obesity include:
•Finding ways your child enjoys being physically active for at least 30 minutes every day so that exercise becomes an integral part of your child’s life.
•Finding family activities that involve exercising together, such as skiing, sledding, ice-skating, hiking, or tennis.
•Giving fitness related gifts to your child for Christmas or their birthday, such as a mini-trampoline or a new tennis racket.
•Making exercise a priority in your own life.
•Limiting television and computer time and encouraging physical activity instead of lounging around. The average American child spends about 24 hours each week just watching TV.
Not only does watching TV not burn calories, but it also reduces children’s physical activity and exposes them to commercials for high-calorie junk foods, leading them to seek out snacks.
•Encouraging healthier food choices and smaller portions. Most of the snack foods and cereals marketed to children are high in calories, salt and added sugar, and are low in nutriernts.
Childers said that more children are becoming diabetic.
According to the American Obesity Association (AOA), being overweight during childhood, and particularly adolescence, is related to increased morbidity and mortality in later life.
“Children are unaware of the heart problems they could get, and they don’t know what can happen leading up into adulthood,” Childers said.
Childers said that other consequences for childhood obesity include asthma, hypertension, orthopedic complications and sleep apnea. A study done by the AOA shows that one major consequence that affects adolescents is the psychosocial effect of being obese.
“When children are obese, they get teased a lot for being different from the children who are not overweight, which tends to decrease a child’s self-esteem,” Childers said.
Childers said that the school system is doing its part in the fight against childhood obesity by trying to change some things in the lunchroom slowly.
“We have to change slowly because doing it instantly will only bring a negative reaction,” Childers said. “We are offering a variety of milks; the chocolate milk that we provide has less fat calories than even the 2 percent milk.”
Childers said at Loganville High School, students are given a choice of baked chips with sandwiches and that there are no fryers at the elementary schools.
“We are also trying to slowly switch from white bread to whole wheat bread,” Childers said. “We are now serving pizza with whole wheat dough.”
According to Childers, the schools’ nutrition system is in the process of doing meal planners, in which they are looking at the schools’ lunch menus, calling the food manufacturers, and trying to get a dietary analysis out for the schools by the spring semester.
“Overall, I think the public is more aware of what they eat and how it affects their future,” Childers said.
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