US rate of childhood obesity to hit one in five by 2010

[freakinhuge]

US rate of childhood obesity to hit one in five by 2010 Fri Sep 15, 4:55 PM ET



WASHINGTON (AFP) - Unless public health takes urgent measures, one in five children in the United States will be obese by the year 2010, the Institute of Medicine warned in a report.

Currently, one third of American children are obese or at risk of becoming so. The rate of childhood obesity has jumped from 16 percent in 2002, to 17.1 percent in 2004 and will reach 20 percent in four years, the report said.

"The good news is that Americans have begun to recognize that childhood obesity is a serious public health problem, and initiatives to address it are under way," said Jeffrey Koplan, who heads an institute committee on preventing childhood obesity.

The committee has held meetings around the United States, including Kansas, Georgia and California, to review public health actions on the matter and has estimated that progress will be slow and in need of systematic monitoring.

"Positive changes in the health outcomes of children and youth, as measured by body mass index, will require years of sustained efforts, systematic evaluation, and adequate resources," the committee said.

Actions that have begun and that need evaluation include improved food and beverage programs at school.

From the food industry to the advertising sector, the report said, there have been constructive initiatives to deal with the obesity problem, including playground equipment for parks and shopping malls that encourage children to exercise.

Entertainment companies have begun granting licenses to fruit and vegetable distributors to promote their good-eating habits to children through cartoon characters.

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I hate seeing so many children pick up bad eating habits from their parents. I think teaching children horrible eating habits and then letting them get fat is just as bad as letting kids drink, or do drugs. The unhealthy eating will probably kill them before the other two habits anyway.

[meat12]

fat kids suck

[rado]

Originally Posted by meat12

fat kids suck

STFU Fat kid

I concur/\

[Scrumhalf]

I wish they would focus less on the food and more on the recreational habits of the kids. I never watched what I ate when I was a kid and was as skinny as could be because I played outside from 4pm when I got back from school to 6pm when I had to get back home for dinner and homework. Yeah, junk food is bad, but no diet is going to help you if you park your rear end in front of a TV or video game for 3-4 hours every afternoon.

[babyblues]

Originally Posted by Scrumhalf

I wish they would focus less on the food and more on the recreational habits of the kids. I never watched what I ate when I was a kid and was as skinny as could be because I played outside from 4pm when I got back from school to 6pm when I had to get back home for dinner and homework. Yeah, junk food is bad, but no diet is going to help you if you park your rear end in front of a TV or video game for 3-4 hours every afternoon.

True.

Kids shouldn't have to watch what they eat. Their parents should watch what their kids are eating. That's part of their responsibility. I'll bet most of our parents said that we had to eat our vegetables and didn't let us eat only junk food all day.

[dreamgirl]

this is really sad...

my 6 year old daughter is a really talented gymnast and is on the level 4 competing team at her gymnastics gym... they all practice a total of 9 hours a week... there is a little girl on her team who is overweight, and surprises me that she can do a lot of what my daughter can do... she is the same age as mine and i bet her waist is double the size of my daughters. And the kicker is... there is a Dairy Queen right across the street from the gym and after EVERY practice, they go and get her an ice cream!!!

my daughter, we drive home and before bed she gets to eat a yogurt. Pretty soon this little girl won't be able to lift her own weight.