Changing Childhood Obesity

Patrick Cooney

Journalism

Dr. Kozlowski

May 4, 2011

Getting Kids to Eat Right

       Getting America's children to eat better has been an important issue for some time.  With the advent of shows such as Jamie Oliver's,  “Food Revolution” on ABC and the Obama Administration's  $400 million Healthy Food Financing Initiative, improving the eating habits of our nation's youth is an issue that has enjoyed increasing media focus and promising policy initiatives.  However,  experts say much work still needs to be done in order to build sustainable efforts aimed at getting kids to eat well, particularly at school.

       According to Center for Disease and Control and Prevention, “Childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years. The prevalence of obesity among children aged 6 to 11 years increased from 6.5% in 1980 to 19.6% in 2008. The prevalence of obesity among adolescents aged 12 to 19 years increased from 5.0% to 18.1%.”

The statistics are startling, a clear indication of the increasing prevalence of childhood obesity.  The CDC also notes that obesity can break down considerably according to different demographics.  “There are significant racial and ethnic disparities in obesity prevalence among U.S. children and adolescents. In 2007—2008, Hispanic boys, aged 2 to 19 years, were significantly more likely to be obese than non-Hispanic white boys, and non-Hispanic black girls were significantly more likely to be obese than non-Hispanic white girls.” 

       The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, lists causes of childhood obesity, including: overeating, family issues, and lack of exercise among primary factors.  The American Academy of Pediatrics describes health risks associated with childhood obesity.  According to their website, “Overweight or obese children and adolescents are at risk for many health problems. Some of the negative health outcomes that may be more obvious to children and their parents are asthma, sleep apnea, skin infections, and complaints of joint pain. All of these are significant health problems and need attention by a doctor; however, in addition to these there are other serious health risks associated with obesity that may be less obvious to the child or parent, such as high blood pressure (hypertension) and Type 2 Diabetes.”

       The risks and increase of childhood obesity are well-documented, and most experts agree that the issue must be addressed on multiple fronts.  Many of the young professionals I spoke with discussed the changes that need to be made in terms of the children's learning institutions.

       Laura Thornton, founder and director of Sustainable Urban Development, a nonprofit in Philadelphia, said, “[we need to] teach kids good food can be healthy food.” Thornton also discussed the need to change the archaic guidelines in terms of which foods are considered healthy. She argued some officials could abuse these.  “It’s absurd, some of them try to argue French fries are legitimate vegetables, even though they’re deep-fried.”

Laura Buerger, a student of Nutrition and Dietetics at Saint Louis University, also spoke about the need to “teach cooks/lunch ladies ways to make healthy foods taste better.  Not all health food tastes bad but people need to know how to properly prepare them.”  She also discussed the need to teach kids how food is grown and prepared, which can make them more likely to embrace healthy foods.

       Michael Neal, a relationship specialist at Big Brothers Big Sisters St. Louis, talked about the need to decrease the student-teacher ratio in many schools and provide support for more “health professionals, parent outreach workers and ancillary teachers.  Currently most are shared in large districts and can't form strong relationships with students.”  Neal suggested following the example of some Scandinavian countries, where teachers are social workers are better compensated.   With stronger relationships between students and teachers and other social workers, tackling issues of how children eat could become more manageable.

In addition, Kylie Lynch, a Kindergarten Summer School Teacher in Dallas, thinks using food as an incentive sends the wrong message to kids.  “They need to be taught food is something we need for health, not necessarily a reward for good behavior.”

Changing how kids eat obviously will not happen overnight, but in addition to family involvement, experts agree that significant changes in how our schools teach our children about food is necessary. 

           

Michael Neal mneal@slu.edu

Kylie Lynch klynch6@slu.edu

Laura Thornton laura@sustainableurbandevelopment.org

Laura Buerger lbuerge1@gmail.com

The video I would include would show classrooms in Finland and South Korea, comparing how students and teachers relate there, and how their cultures treat food in schools, as opposed to the policies we have in the United States.

It’s great to see a lot of facts that supported your story.  -Meron Fitsum