Did you know America is in the middle of a crisis? Over the
past thirty years childhood obesity has tripled. Our Nation’s children are suffering from diseases
normally seen in adults, such as diabetes and high blood pressure. One of the most important things we can do to
combat this epidemic is to choose healthier food options for our children and
increase their physical activity. More fruits and vegetable
along with thirty minutes of exercise is recommend to reduce childhood obesity (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012). It’s
time to stop pointing the finger at what caused the childhood obesity crisis
and wage a war against it! The "figures" don't lie. Healthy choices make healthy children.
New England Journal Study
One of the largest studies on childhood obesity was recently
published in The New England Journal of Medicine. The study kept track of weight and risk
factors on thousands Pima and Tohono O’odham Indian children from childhood
through early adulthood. They found that
the overweight children were two times as likely as their thinner counterparts
to die prematurely from obesity and its related diseases, such as heart disease (Rabin, 2010).
Throughout their study it became apparent that the children
they were studying were not the only children being affected by the childhood
obesity epidemic but it was becoming a widespread epidemic across American
children. Nearly thirty-three percent of American children are categorized as being
overweight or obese
Helen C. Looker is
assistant professor of medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center and the senior author
of this paper. She says, “Obesity in children who have not reached puberty are increasing their chances of long –term health issues. If today's children plan to live beyond the age of 55 the
series of unhealthy behaviors that have been set in motion need to change”
Rabin, Roni C. (2010). "Child Obesity Risks Death at Early Age,
Study Finds - NYTimes.com."
Retrieved from
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Childhood obesity is increasing at an alarming rate! Children are eating too many calories and are not getting enough exercise to burn them off. With the rise in childhood obesity we are now seeing diseases we only use to see in older adults such as, high blood pressure, diabetes, sleep disturbances, and joint problems. If children continue to gain weight at unhealthy rates they will become obese adults (CDC, 2012).
The CDC has identified reasons they believe have contributed to this epidemic. Society has become lax in their physical activity trading outdoor activities for indoor activities, portion sizes have increased, increases in junk food options and limited access to healthy foods (CDC, 2012).
There is a combination of strategies and solutions to help decrease this epidemic. Parents can serve water instead of sugary drinks, increase physical activity, control junk food intake and reduce portion sizes. Schools can reduce vending machines, stock vending machines with healthy options, add a salad bar and incorporate fresh products (CDC, 2012).
Statistics
- "Childhood obesity has tripled since 1980." (CDC, 2012)
- "Over 12 million children and adolescents aged 2 - 19 years are obese." (CDC,2012)
- "1 of 7 low-income, preschool-aged children is obese." (CDC, 2012)
The video is a great introduction to your PSA. The information really spells out that childhood obesity is an ever-growing problem and treatments for already obese children and prevention strategies are important. You mentioned that more children are choosing indoor activities over outdoor activities; it would be interesting to see if the ratio is the same when neighborhood safety is taken into account. It's unfortunate that the only modes of getting exercise indoors are expensive equipment like the XBOX or Wii and so children that don't have a safe place to play outside still cannot get activity inside. I enjoyed reading your PSA as well as the controllable factors the school system has on helping this health issue .
ReplyDeleteI found this PSA informative describing the serious implications for obese children. The video was a great addition. It was brief but to the point about the importance of including vegetables and fruits in a healthy diet. The study was from a very well known, reputable source and included seriously alarming facts for the lay person. Hopefully this information will be a significant message to the reader.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was particularly interesting that the children followed were American Indian children. I’m wondering if there were cultural factors considered that contributed to their obesity?
Tracy,
ReplyDeleteYou have chosen a great health topic for your blog, I personally very interested in this health issue because childhood obesity is a national phenomenon, and there is a need to tackle this epidemic on future generations. I believe that reducing childhood obesity is a shared community responsibility. Thus, health educators can incorporate constructs from models such as social marketing and use its four principles (4 Ps): place, price, product, and promotion to design, plan, and implement children obesity promotion program at the various ecological influence levels of the intervention:
- At the family level: Reduce childhood obesity risk factors by changing parental lifestyle behaviors and family eating habits at home.
- At the school level: Elementary & middle school-based campaigns to change student’s eating habits and exercise patterns through environmental changes such as cafeteria interventions as well as promotional advertising.
- At the community level: Social marketing can be used effectively at the community level to promote nutrition and physical activity and prevent obesity among children through implement community-based social marketing campaigns, target both children and parents to promote healthy nutrition and physical activity among them, use multiple outreach channels including co-branding with popular community events and venues, and use mass media campaigns to reach target population like VERB campaign (Evans, Christoffel, Necheles, & Becker, 2010).
References:
Evans, W.D., Christoffel, K.K., Necheles, J.W., & Becker, A.B. (2010). Social marketing as a childhood obesity prevention strategy. Commentaries, 18(1), S23-S26.