The alarming rise in childhood obesity is a complicated problem that has its roots in lifestyle and genes.
However, the answer for every child begins in a familiar place – their homes.
Recent moves by snack and cereal makers to cut back on sugar and other fattening ingredients are welcome developments. But they are no substitute for strong family ground rules that include lots of exercise and healthy food.
Kellogg Co. said last week that it would make its cereal and snacks more nutritious or stop advertising them to children. Other snack makers have announced changes along the same lines and have expanded offerings of organic and low-calorie foods.
Nutrition advocates were quick to attribute the developments to industry fears that they’ll be held liable for spiraling obesity rates among children. About 17 percent of children and adolescents are overweight, according to figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That number was in the 4 percent to 6 percent range in the early 1970s.
“They’re trying to take enough steps so Congress won’t pass laws and they won’t get sued,” Margo Wootan, Nutrition Policy Director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest told The Associated Press.
The success of lawyers in taking on Big Tobacco has led some to believe there is a case to be made against Big Food. Therefore, it would be in the food companies’ self-interest to make an effort to offer healthier fare.
Officials with Kellogg Co., which makes Cheez-It crackers and Pop-Tarts, said they will reduce the calories, fat, sugar and sodium in their products, or they will stop marketing them to children younger than 12. In 2005, Kraft Foods Inc. stopped advertising its sugary and fat-filled products to children under 11.
Food industry changes will mean little until parents commit to guiding their children to a slimmer future. That means less television and more outdoor games; less fast food and more fresh fruit.
The basic obesity equation – too much food and not enough exercise to burn off the calories – is a simple one. But the complications of modern life can make it difficult to come up with solutions.
Working parents, takeout food, difficulty of arranging play dates or organized sports, and the popularity of video games all contribute to the problem of overweight kids. This is one situation where one size definitely does not fit all.
It’s imperative to find solutions that fit each family since obesity has the potential to kill or make you chronically ill. Obesity increases the risk of stroke, diabetes, arthritis, heart disease and some cancers. A relatively small weight loss, just 5 to 10 percent of total body weight, can prevent or delay these conditions.
Between 1997 and 2003, researchers saw an incredible 200 percent increase in the number of children hospitalized for Type 2 diabetes, which doctors attribute to the epidemic of childhood obesity.
The stakes are great, and not just for the individuals. Society at large will share in the cost of caring for obese children, who are prone to becoming obese adults, through health insurance premiums and public health costs.
According to figures cited by the Centers for Disease Control, the annual cost to treat conditions related to being overweight or obese was $93 billion in 2002. In Colorado, researchers estimated the cost was $874 million annually between 1998 and 2000.
There’s no doubt that the conditions that have combined to create a generation of severely overweight kids have had devastating consequences and are not going to be easy to change. While we’re glad to see food producers making less-junky snacks and cereals, it’s clear the real changes need to take place at dinner tables and playgrounds around the country.
