Stuffing Chips - © Michael Moss - Salt Sugar Fat Book

Childhood Obesity Continues To Increase

We’ve talked about this plague of the developed world in this space before, more than once. The last time, the news was that obesity in teen and pre-teen kids was plateauing and, after that, maybe dropping off. Not a chance. The news this morning is, childhood obesity is still growing…

Recipe for Obese Kids - © dhawkdesign.comIt appears that the lure of sweets and fats and the siren call of the big snack food brands
is still drowning out the entreaties of parents to kids about how and
what they should eat to remain slim and healthy.

The experts say, with ample evidence and justification, that fat kids become fat adults, and fat adults causes a tremendous burden on the health care system with all the diseases and conditions that come with obesity.

Health and nutrition authorities have been warning for years that childhood obesity is a huge issue that must be addressed. In some places, special punitive taxes have been placed on sugary beverages and other high-Calorie foods in an effort to discourage kids and parents from consuming them. In others, regulations have been put in place on food product advertising that targets children.

Still, we’re advised, our kids are getting fatter and fatter in greater numbers than eve before.

Here’s the skinny on what’s making them fat…

A new study by researchers at the Duke University Medical Center revealed that three decades of rising childhood obesity continued their upward trend in 2016, the latest year for which complete records are available. The findings, which appear in the journal Pediatrics, show 35.1 percent of children in the U.S. were overweight in 2016, a 4.7-percent increase compared to 2014.

Boys and girls aged 16 to 19 had the highest rates of any age group in 2016, with 41.5 percent considered overweight, defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as having a BMI at or above the 85th percentile for age and sex. Among these 16-to-19-year-olds, 4.5 percent have Class III obesity, the highest of three categories defined by the CDC.

Both Class II and Class III are considered severe and are linked with greater risk of heart and metabolic health problems, such as high blood pressure and cholesterol, in the present and later in life.

Across all age groups, African-American and Hispanic children had higher rates of overweight and all levels of obesity, while Asian-American children had markedly lower rates.

What  can be done?

It’s clear that regulations on advertising and other official initiatives have not been successful in combating childhood obesity. But what can be done? The study’s senior author Sarah C. Armstrong, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics at Duke, says it’s up to us as individuals to take care of our families:

“Although the latest trends show that we haven’t figured out what works as a population, we do know individual changes can support families’ health. We know families can avoid added sugar in beverages and food, get at least an hour of activity a day, and incorporate vegetables into every meal to improve their health. Even if your child is a picky eater and wants to eat the same vegetable every day, that is still a good choice.”

~ Maggie J.