Obesity in Children.

There is a growing concern among health professionals about the impact of obesity in childhood and the health of our future generations. We know that as children approach late childhood and adolescence, it becomes more difficult to change eating styles and becomes more difficult to shed unwanted pounds.

There are many trends that have occurred in the United States and in many other societies throughout the world that contribute to increasing our rates of obesity. Even societies which have traditionally not had much problems with obesity, like Japan, are now seeing a rise in this pattern.

Trends are occurring that affect the health of our children. These include:

• High-calorie, high-fat, ready-made foods are available and desired by children and adults. A hundred years ago, when fresh, locally-grown foods were all that were available, people had few choices of what to eat. Now with an overwhelming number of items available, it seems easy to snack on crackers or chips or cookies, instead of fresh foods. Our society appears to be going through a palate change that desires more processed food choices.
• Despite all the knowledge of the health benefits of regular exercise, our children are not necessarily receiving those benefits. Only about 36 percent of children participate in physical activity in school on a daily basis. Of students in grades nine through twelve, only half reported being enrolled in physical education classes.
• Television viewing, video games, and computers have become sedentary options for our children. Some researchers have found a strong correlation between the time spent watching television and being overweight. The 1990 Youth Risk Behavior Survey showed that more than 70 percent of students in grades nine through twelve watched at least one hour of television and 35 percent watched three or more hours of television each school day. The average American watches three hours and 43 minutes of television each day, according to a Nielsen Media Research study. This adds up to 56 days of nonstop TV per year!
• Concerns with violence in our society have allowed our children to become more sedentary, especially among the urban areas of the country. Children must come home and stay indoors after school because of fear of violence outside the home.

What impact does this rising trend in obesity have on our children? 

• It has been estimated that a poor diet and lack of activity contribute to about 300,000 preventable deaths in the United States, or about 1,000 deaths per day. This is second only to smoking-related deaths.
• Overweight children have a higher rate of developing asthma. The rate of new asthmatics was more than double in children in the highest 20 percent of body mass index.
• Obese children have a high risk of becoming obese adults with the increased risk of developing chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases (heart attacks, strokes, high blood pressure), increased cholesterol and triglycerides, and certain types of cancer.
• Being overweight accelerates the aging process and reduces longevity. A study from Harvard researchers in 1995 showed that among a group of female nurses, modestly overweight women were 60 percent more likely to die than the thinnest women.
• There is a rising incidence of adolescents being diagnosed with adult-type diseases, like hypertension and adult-onset diabetes.
• Obese children face significant negative psychosocial consequences, like discrimination from their peers and low self-esteem.

The economic health care related costs of obesity have been estimated to be around $69 billion in 1990. This represents about eight percent of total health care costs.