What will it take to end childhood obesity?

We hear about the epidemic of childhood obesity on the news so much these days that it’s easy to stop paying attention.  We hardly listen when they tell us, yet again, about the scary statistics.  

In case you’ve been zoning out, here they are: over the past 30 years, the incidence of childhood obesity has doubled for preschoolers and adolescents, and tripled for children ages 6 to 11.  At this point, nearly a third of American children are either obese or at the verge of being obese. 

Maybe it’s easy to zone out because we think that’s not so bad.  After all, the numbers are much worse for adults.  According to 2003-2004 data, a stunning two-thirds of American adults are either overweight or obese.  Compared to adults, kids are doing downright well.

We zone out, too, because we are a culture of the moment.  What’s interesting and compelling to us is what’s going on right now.  Start talking about prevention, and eyes glaze over.  That’s later.  We’ll worry about it then.

And dealing with obesity is all about preventing complications. While kids view the issue purely in terms of how they look, complications of obesity are being seen at earlier and earlier ages. 

Data clearly show that today’s chubby kid is tomorrow’s fat adult—especially if one or both parents is obese.  We are looking at more than two-thirds of American adults being overweight or obese in the not-so-distant future.  It’s not just a matter of stores needing to stock larger clothes.  With obesity come diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, sleep apnea, arthritis, cancer, and other health problems.   And then there is the social stigma and depression that many obese people endure.  Is this really the future we want for so many of our children?

Obesity doesn’t just carry a health and emotional cost— there are financial costs as well. According to the Institute of Medicine, annual obesity-related hospital costs for children and youth were around $127 million in 1997-1999; imagine what they are now.  And when children grow into adults with more health problems, the costs rise.

Nobody wants this, of course.  So what do we need to do?

Wake up.   Along with being a culture of the moment, we are a culture of denial—but now is the time to take a closer look at our children and the children in our community.  “It’s just baby fat, he’ll grow out of it” may have been true back when we spent all day running around the neighborhood and riding our bikes but these days, baby fat turns into teenager fat and then adult fat. 

Take a closer look at ourselves.  We must look carefully at our habits.  This is incredibly important; study after study shows that parental weight and eating habits have a profound effect on children.  We tell our kids to eat their fruits and vegetables—but do we?  We say they should exercise, but our gym shoes gather dust in the closet.  We say they should shut off the television—but we can’t miss the game or the latest episode of our favorite show.  As with everything, children pay much more attention to what we do than what we say.

Eat better. As obvious as this is, vanishingly few people eat the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables every day.  We have grown fond of our super-sized fast food, and our salty processed munchies.   The home-cooked family dinner with everyone around the table is becoming a rarity.  There’s little hope for our children unless we can bring fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein back into the mainstream—and put aside the sugary, fatty stuff. 

Exercise.   We, and our children, are remarkably sedentary.  With the digital age, we don’t even have to get up to call our children—we can text message them on their cell phones.  But fitting in exercise might be easier than you think.  When we think of exercise, we often think of jogging or playing soccer—but exercise can be taking the dog for a walk, tossing a Frisbee, walking instead of driving to school,  or just playing outside.  The point for adults and their kids is to simply move.

Shut off the screens.  The average American child spends 4 hours daily watching television— that’s 2 hours over than the limit recommended by American Academy of Pediatrics, and the amount that is correlated with an increased risk of obesity.  It’s not just that they aren’t exercising—the commercials encouraging kids to eat low-nutrition, high-calorie foods just make matters worse.

Fight for social justice.  Fresh fruit and vegetables and other healthy foods aren’t cheap, and buying them regularly isn’t possible for many families (unhealthy stuff is cheaper!).  There are interesting studies that show that when people don’t know when they will next get food, they overeat—leading to increased obesity among those with food insecurity.  Many children live in places where they can’t play outside—either because there’s no place to play, or because the places are too dangerous. 

It’s overwhelming.  Which feeds into yet another problematic aspect of our culture: when faced with overwhelming things, we tend to climb back into our turtle shells and do nothing.  It’s too big, we say; anything we do would be too small.

Then again, small efforts add up—and small efforts inspire others. 

Here are things everyone can do to get started:

·         Stop buying soda.  It’s not good for anyone.

·         Limit fast food to once a month.  Buy a cookbook of quick meals—they are easier than you may think.

·         Make a fruit salad and stick it in the fridge.  If it’s easy to eat, they will eat it.

·         Turn off the screens one day a week.  You may be surprised at the fun you have.

·         Check the Body Mass Index (BMI) of everyone in the family.   Visit http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/bmi for an interactive tool.  Enter height and weight (and for kids, age and sex), and it will let you know if the weight is healthy—or not.  

·         Go for walks with your kids—and other people you love.  You can get healthy and get closer at the same time.

·         Find out what’s being served at your child’s school—both in the lunch line and in vending machines.  If it’s not healthy, speak up.

·         Donate healthy foods to your local food pantry

·         Call your local elected official.  Ask him or her to support programs that promote healthy eating, end food insecurity, and create more opportunities for exercise in the community.

Be, as Mahatma Gandhi said, the change you want to see in the world.  The future of our children is at stake.

Have you made changes that have worked for your family?  What ideas do you have to help save our children from obesity?

Claire McCarthy, M.D., is a senior medical editor for Harvard Health Publications. She is an instructor in pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, an attending physician at Children's Hospital of Boston, and co-director of the pediatrics department at Martha Eliot Health Center, a neighborhood health service of Children's Hospital. The author of two books, "Learning How the Heart Beats" and "Everyone's Children", Dr. McCarthy was a regular columnist for "Sesame Street Parents Magazine" from 1995 to 1998 and is currently a contributing editor for "Parenting Magazine".

----------------------------------------------------------------

Click here to join the group Harvard Med: Talking About Health on Gather

You can find the following related articles on Gather:

The hardest part about weight loss---keeping it off

Why do you gain weight?

Weight-loss aids: Buyer beware