When I was kid in the 1960s, my parents took me to see the musical “Oliver Twist.” I was a rail-thin tomboy who couldn’t sit still. I lived outdoors, climbing trees, egging cars, riding home on my Schwinn Stingray only when the lights went on in my neighbors’ windows.
Spending time inside to watch a musical? Please.
But the second the movie started, I was frozen in my seat. Even now when I hear the emotional line, “Please sir, I want some more,” I feel it in my gut. I still see the skinny towhead Twist holding up his empty bowl to the fat Master Bumbles, who immediately reprimands the overworked, undernourished orphan.
But what if today’s Oliver Twist was fat?
Admittedly, it’s a hard sell. Could a tubby Twist begging for more watery gruel invoke as much empathy from today’s audience as does the bone-starved waif from Dickens’ novel — especially if the audience is made up of Coloradans, who are reported to be the leanest population in the country?
But maybe an overweight Oliver could give the appropriate attention to our country’s obesity epidemic. Because even though Colorado has been lean-and-mean on the charts since 1990, childhood obesity is on the rise in our state and has reached epidemic levels nationwide. And when you add poverty into the mix, a poor Colorado kid on a bad diet is three times more likely to become overweight than a child from a high-income family.
The first heavy kid I met was my first-grade classmate Mary. She was dirt poor and wore old dresses that were too tight and worn on the seams. Being shy, Mary never raised her hand in class except one time when she waited too long to ask to go to the bathroom. My classmates were merciless. That day I started walking Mary home, waving goodbye to her as she climbed the rickety staircase up to her home, a small apartment over a gas station on a busy street. She’d disappear inside without a word. Mary never returned for second grade.
The Obamas get it, that as a nation we can no longer ignore or not take this epidemic seriously. This month, President Obama established a task force on childhood obesity, led by Michelle Obama. The campaign Let’s Move! has a goal “to solve the epidemic of childhood obesity within a generation.”
That’s a tough task, especially since childhood obesity has tripled in adolescents and doubled in younger kids since 1980, when the government first recognized and started tracking its prevalence.
Before 1980, when I was an adolescent, there were always a few heavy kids in my class. Relentless teasing was the norm. For me, my tomboy persona was shifting to acne, training bras and Maybelline. I remained skinny, though, and a killer on the basketball court and soccer field. Having my own adolescent bellyaches, I steered away from the fray of fat jokes that were hurled at the heavy kids as they stood at their lockers or ate their lunches in the cafeteria.
What we eat and our activity levels, however, are at the center of the table of the Let’s Move! campaign. Its objectives are to improve access of proper nutrition in the home as well as in schools; promote physical activity in neighborhoods and at school; and educate parents and heads of households on making healthy choices for themselves and their families.
My parents were ahead of the game. Man, I don’t know what Mary was eating, but I had to suffer through nightly sit-down dinners that had both a yellow and a green vegetable. Many nights, I wished I was with Oliver on the work farm.
But I grew up in a middle-class home, raised by Depression-era parents who knew what it was like to be hungry. Betty Crocker ruled our kitchen, along with a sprinkle of Julia Child. A balanced supper was my mother’s scripture.
Today, nutritional imbalance and lack of movement are affecting Colorado kids. According to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s 2006 report, 14 percent of 2- to 14-year-olds are overweight, as are 10 percent of high school students. And for minority or low-income Colorado kids, the rates are two to three times higher.
Many environmental factors influence the increase of obesity in children and adolescents, including:
• The inability of parents to provide nutritional food based on a low income or lack of education;
• Not eating the daily recommended servings of fruits and vegetables;
• The overconsumption of sugary beverages such as juices, sports drinks and soda;
• The consumption of large portions of fast foods or foods lacking in proper nutrition; and
• The increased hours of television viewing, Internet surfing and playing video games.
The negative results can have short- and long-term effects on the health of kids, including the development of Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and asthma. These diseases can extend into adulthood and may even lead to chronic cardiovascular disease. And studies have shown that obese children and teens are more likely to become obese adults.
As for me, the skinny tomboy is long gone. My entire adult life has been a battle with my weight. A youth spent pounding on polio-deformed knees finally caught up with me in my 20s. Renting wheelchairs at museums, parks or for touring a town became the norm — a paradigm life shift that started and fed my slow-boiling anger.
After multiple knee and foot surgeries and a move to Colorado, I got back to lean and active, even racing in a sprint triathlon just one year after major foot surgery. But to this day, my emotional demons continue to whisper in my ear, keeping me on the seesaw.
Life’s playground can be a tough place, especially for overweight kids like Mary. As I get ready for my morning walk (a new ritual), I picture a fat Oliver holding up his empty bowl. These kids need a voice. And Let’s Move! is doing just that. Michelle Obama put the much-needed national spotlight of understanding and seriousness on childhood obesity. Now it’s time get moving.
So I open my front door and go outside for my walk. My thoughts shift away from Mary and Oliver and Obama. I start thinking about climbing trees and my old Schwinn Stingray. A smile comes across my face — and my pace quickens.
Bridget Cassidy of Loveland (bridgetcassidy2009@gmail.com) works as a grant writer for Grow Emerging Companies LLC in Denver.
