We know obesity is at an all-time high for American adults, but how are children faring?  Unfortunately, the news is not much better for them.  1 out of 3 children are overweight or obese.  Today’s children may be the first generation of American children to have shorter life expectancies than their parents?

As a result of children’s increasing waistlines, doctors are now diagnosing children with “adult” diseases like type 2 diabetes and hypertension!  According to the CDC, one in three children in 2000 will develop type 2 diabetes at some point in their lives.  Children are now at an increased risk for heart disease, stroke, some cancers, insulin resistance, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, and early puberty.  Seeing 10-year old children with 45-year old hearts is mind-boggling for doctors who did not see this problem a generation ago. 

We spend $150 billion per year treating these obesity-related illnesses.  This is a huge burden on our health care system and threatens our economy. 

When did this happen?  Very quickly.  The rate at which children have changed is staggering:     

• The obesity rate among children ages 2 to 5 has more than doubled in the last 30 years (NHANES)
• The obesity rate for children ages 6 to 11 has more than quadrupled (NHANES)
• The obesity rate for children ages 12 to 19 has more than tripled in the last 40 years (NHANES)

How did this happen?  Aren’t children supposed to be building forts, climbing trees, and riding bikes until parents beg them to come in for dinner?

Not anymore.

We all know the reasons why our nation is continuing to grow obese – unhealthy foods with bad ingredients being larger in size and cheaper than ever, more time in front of a screen (TV and/or computer), less time moving due to sedentary lifestyles, and inability to access fresh foods, especially in schools. 

Children are paying the price for our obesogenic environment (environment that promotes weight gain rather than weight loss).  Isn’t it time this epidemic be reversed so that kids can be kids instead of deal with 40-year-old heart ailments? 

Question is: How and who will do it?

“Hungry” to know more?  Sites Earth Fare visited for this post:
(1) http://tinyurl.com/y8vcuna – Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center to Prevent Childhood Obesity
(2) http://tinyurl.com/yemuhwv – “Childhood Overweight” (The Obesity Society)
(3) http://tinyurl.com/yevblen – “Michelle Obama: ‘Let’s Move’ Initiative Battles Childhood Obesity” (ABCNews)
(4) http://tinyurl.com/yf4834g – “Bring the Lessons of Food, Inc. Home” (Robert Kenner on Oprah.com)