San Mateo County fights back in ways to combat child obesity

As a parent, one's worst fear is to bury their child as opposed to the other way around. This has become most prevalent amongst Latin community, especially since Latin children show a higher rate of obesity than youth of other backgrounds. San Mateo County has taken on the challenge of childhood obesity by translating the "Shapedown" weight management program into Spanish. Shapedown is a program that works with families, teaching them healthful eating habits, good nutrition, and the importance of daily physical activity.

The organization has recently received grants worth $60,000, in an effort to get the program professionally translated. The Peninsula Health care district donated $50,000 and $10,000 dollars was contributed from the Silicone Valley Community Foundation. However, it has been estimated that the project still needs about $90,000 to make coursebooks, handouts and other materials available in Spanish.

"We have seen a great need to have (program materials) in Spanish," said Liliana Ramirez, a Health Plan educator. "Since (Shapedown) is not translated, it limits availability to a large population."

Article taken from: Inside Bay Area.

Are we reaching the end of the growing epidemic of childhood obesity?

The New York Times recently reported childhood obesity has recently reached a platue after a rising climb of more than two decades. This new found hope is greeted with guarded optism. It is still unclear whether the lull in childhood weight gain is permanent or if there is any prevelance of public anti-obesity efforts to limit junk food and increase physical activity in schools.

According to Dr. David Luwig, director of the childhood obesity program at Children’s Hospital in Boston, “After 25 years of extraordinarily bad news about childhood obesity, this study provides a glimmer of hope. But it’s much too soon to know whether this is a true plateau in prevalence or just a temporary lull.”

The most recent data is based on two surveys — one in 2003 to 2004 and one in 2005 to 2006 — that included 8,165 children ages 2 to 19. In that group, about 16 percent of children and teenagers were obese, which is defined as having a body mass index at or above the 95th percentile on United States growth charts. By comparison, about 5 percent of children and teenagers in the United States were obese in the 1960s and 1970s. The good news is that from a statistical standpoint, obesity rates have not increased since 1999.

Researchers can not give a clear explanation for the leveling off of childhood obesity rates. One concern is that the lull could represent a natural platue, but data collected from various obesity programs around the country suggests the trends may be real.

Are marketing techniques fueling child obesity?

Are advertisers purposely preying on our children's vulnerability? Everyday children are bombarded with advertisements, often with products that are harmful to them. According to Dale Kunkel, a communications professor at the University of Arizona, the average child sees about 40,000 commercials on television alone. The majority of ads targeted at them are for candy, sugared cereal, soda and fast food.

Marketing is the primary culprit of childhood obesity. A recent Stanford study found that children who spend the most time watching TV, videos and video games are more likely to be overweight. According to a 1999 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, reveals that exposure to food commercials influences children' s food preferences and requests.

HULIQ reports that the persuasiveness of marketing to children is troubling due to kids' inherent vulnerability of persuasion. Children under eight do not understand the intent of ads, and and tend to accept them as accurate and unbiased.

It is then fair to say that media and advertisers have a responsibility to do better by our nations kids. Some have recognized the effects their business practices have on children and are taking important steps toward acting in children's best interest.

In January, Kraft Foods decided to stop advertising its low- nutrition foods during children's programs and replace them with ads for more nutritional snack products. Sesame Street recently teamed with Earth's Best to launch a new line of organic and "nutrient-rich" breakfast foods and snacks for children. Nickelodeon refused to allow one of its characters, Dora the Explorer, to be used for a Burger King kids' meal unless a piece of fruit was included in the meal.

Fighting the battle of childhood obesity

An epidemic of childhood obesity plagues the lives of millions of American children, with virtually every major organ at risk the greater damage is probably irreversible. According to the Washington Post boys and girls in elementary school suffering from high blood pressure, high cholesterol and painful joint conditions; a soaring incidence of type 2 diabetes, once a rarity in pediatricians’ offices; even a spike in child gallstones, also once a singularly adult affliction. Studies reveal that one in three children in this country overweight or worse, the future health and productivity of an entire generation, and a nation can very well be in jeopardy! The cumulative effect could be the country's first generation destined to have a shorter life span than its predecessor.

A 2005 analysis by a team of scientists forecast a two- to five-year drop in life expectancy unless aggressive action manages to reverse obesity rates. Since then, children have only gotten fatter.

According to a study by Thomson Reuters, the epidemic is expected to add billions of dollars to the U.S. health-care bill. Treating a child with obesity is three times more costly than treating the average child.

The internal damage does not always take medical testing to diagnose. It is visible as a child laboriously climbs a flight of stairs or tries to sit at a classroom desk, much less rise out of it. On a playground, obesity exerts a cruel price.

“It robs them of their childhood, really,” said Melinda S. Sothern, of the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. “They’re robbed of the natural enjoyment of being a kid — being able to play outside, run. If they have high blood pressure, they have a constant risk of stroke."

As we all know we are undergoing a major epidemic all throughout the world. We must first take responsibility of our own bodies, as well there needs to be more involvement from the health care communities all the way to the federal government.

Childhood obesity - county measure or not?

In a recent report by the Daily Herald resident Dick Graff, of Kane County, Illinois is disappointed at a recent decision to spend tax dollars on a campaign to fight childhood obesity. Graff agrees that while the cause is noble, taxpayers should not be picking up the tab on this initiative. It is not an arena that should be invested in at a county level.
Although the issue is sad, he feels the Government can't take on social responsibility of trying to make people do the right thing. Graff proposes that there are plenty of organizations that are devoted to the issue of obesity amongst our youth. And therefore, asks the county to rescind the funding for this program.

If you have $500,000 for this campaign, the county has too much money at its disposal.

Is obesity holding back your child's education?

These days, the health of our youth is more compromised than ever with the proportions of young Americans who are overweight has tripled since 1980. According to the California Department of Education, more than 32 percent of all youth in California are overweight and approximately 74 percent are unfit. As a result, chronic illness, such as juvenile diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure and even heart disease will be endemic among our youth in the future. At the current pace of weight problems, 75 percent of adults and nearly 24 percent of U.S. children and adolescents will be overweight or obese by 2015.

According to a report released by the California Department of Education,
support for nutrition education and training declined from more than $600,000 to
less than $70,000 between school fiscal years 2002-03 and 2004-05, a reduction
of $530,000, or 88 percent.

The San Francisco Gate reports that children who are healthy, active and well-nourished children and youth are more likely to attend school and are more prepared and motivated to learn. Therefore, individuals are questioning whether a child even needs to sit at a desk to learn. Just as classrooms are designed to promote effective teaching, we must also design learning experiences that promote good health. School districts across the country are working on restoring nutrition and excercise to students in schools.

Five schools replaced sodas with fruit juice and milk; scaled back snacks to meet fat and calorie restrictions; banished candy; encouraged active participation at recess; gave raffle tickets for wise food choices toward bikes and jump ropes; and spent hours teaching kids and parents about good nutrition. A school in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Leadership Academy, has removed refined flour, red meat and sugar from school lunches for healthier menus. Texas is trying a three-pronged approach - passing laws mandating more physical education, less junk food in schools, and an educational component for parents to emphasize basic nutrition facts. Many states are enacting laws that address nutrition and obesity.

Are you living the recipe for a shorter life?

As we all know an overweight child most often becomes an overweight adult. The majority of obese children leave adolescence for an adult life already ripe with health concerns. And according to a study by Harvard’s School of Public Health, those lives often end prematurely. The Harvard study evaluated the health habits and medical records of more than 100, 000 women, through this study researchers found that those women who were overweight or obese at age 18 had a far greater risk of dying from cancer or heart disease before reaching middle age.
According to Dr. Pavel Bence more than one-third of U.S. children are overweight or on their way to becoming overweight.

The physical and emotional strain on an overweight child is compounded by the type of behavior uncovered in this study. The obese youth were found less likely to exercise, and more likely to have smoked and consumed alcohol. Let me be the master of the obvious: This is a recipe for a shorter life, states Dr. Bence.

Study taken from Advisor Source.