Supersized Kids, Diminishing Health
Child Obesity Expanding
Dec. 11, 2001 -- As a nation, we are getting fatter, and that is especially true of our children. A new study confirms that over the last decade, childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the U.S., hitting boys, African Americans, Hispanics, and kids living in Southern states the hardest.
The research, published in the Dec. 12 issue of TheJournal of the American Medical Association, represents the most comprehensive national picture of weight trends among children over the last two decades. From 1986 to 1998, the number of non-Hispanic white children who were overweight doubled from 6% to 12%. The research suggests that roughly one in five African-American and Hispanic children are overweight -- a startling 120% increase during the 12-year study period.
So what is to blame for the rapidly expanding waistlines of kids and teens? Take this quick multiple-choice test:
A. It's the super-gigantic value meals served up at fast food restaurants;
B. Most young people spend their free time parked in front of TVs, computers, and video consoles;
C. There are soda machines found in just about every hallway of just about every school;
D. All of the above.
The experts say the right answer is D -- all these things are to blame.
"This is a little like the Agatha Christie story, Murder on the Orient Express, where there are many suspects and all of them are guilty," study co-author Harold A. Pollack, PhD, of the University of Michigan tells WebMD. "The best explanation is that there are many factors pushing kids toward becoming overweight. Children are consuming a higher percentage of their calories in high-fat foods and sodas, and they are more inactive than ever."
Pollack and co-author Richard S. Strauss, MD, of the Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine, write that, like adolescent smoking, teen pregnancy, and youth violence, childhood weight problems arise from deeply rooted behaviors and social practices.
Weight-control specialist Christopher Still, MD, says the three Ns -- Nickelodeon, Netscape, and Nintendo -- are playing a large role in the obesity epidemic among children. As kids spend more and more time watching television, playing video games, or surfing the net, they are getting less exercise than ever, he says.
Supersized Kids, Diminishing Health
Child Obesity Expanding
Dec. 11, 2001 -- As a nation, we are getting fatter, and that is especially true of our children. A new study confirms that over the last decade, childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the U.S., hitting boys, African Americans, Hispanics, and kids living in Southern states the hardest.
The research, published in the Dec. 12 issue of TheJournal of the American Medical Association, represents the most comprehensive national picture of weight trends among children over the last two decades. From 1986 to 1998, the number of non-Hispanic white children who were overweight doubled from 6% to 12%. The research suggests that roughly one in five African-American and Hispanic children are overweight -- a startling 120% increase during the 12-year study period.
So what is to blame for the rapidly expanding waistlines of kids and teens? Take this quick multiple-choice test:
A. It's the super-gigantic value meals served up at fast food restaurants;
B. Most young people spend their free time parked in front of TVs, computers, and video consoles;
C. There are soda machines found in just about every hallway of just about every school;
D. All of the above.
The experts say the right answer is D -- all these things are to blame.
"This is a little like the Agatha Christie story, Murder on the Orient Express, where there are many suspects and all of them are guilty," study co-author Harold A. Pollack, PhD, of the University of Michigan tells WebMD. "The best explanation is that there are many factors pushing kids toward becoming overweight. Children are consuming a higher percentage of their calories in high-fat foods and sodas, and they are more inactive than ever."
Pollack and co-author Richard S. Strauss, MD, of the Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine, write that, like adolescent smoking, teen pregnancy, and youth violence, childhood weight problems arise from deeply rooted behaviors and social practices.
Weight-control specialist Christopher Still, MD, says the three Ns -- Nickelodeon, Netscape, and Nintendo -- are playing a large role in the obesity epidemic among children. As kids spend more and more time watching television, playing video games, or surfing the net, they are getting less exercise than ever, he says.
SHARE
