Our Children Are Our Future: Childhood Obesity Statistics

Because childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions, our children are at great risk. But we seem to be just casually going about our business. Sure, the alarms have been raised and small changes have been made, but not enough to turn the tide.

And, yes, McDonalds added a few healthy options to please the "noisy minority" but truthfully, how many kids eat apple slices instead of French fries? Heck, if I pull into McDonalds you can bet I am not getting apple slices!

Below are a few statistics that might just raise your eyebrows.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

• 16 percent of children (over 9 million) 6-19 years old are overweight or obese -- a number that has tripled since 1980. In addition, to the 16 percent of children and teens ages 6 to 19 who were overweight in 1999-2002, another 15 percent were considered at risk of becoming overweight.

• Over the past three decades the childhood obesity rate has more than doubled for preschool children aged 2-5 years and adolescents aged 12-19 years, and it has more than tripled for children aged 6-11 years.

• Overweight adolescents have a 70 percent chance of becoming overweight or obese adults. This increases to 80 percent if one or more parent is overweight or obese.

• Forty-three percent of students in grades 9-12 watch television more than two hours per day. Physical activity declines dramatically over the course of adolescence, and girls are significantly less likely than boys to participate regularly in vigorous physical activity.

• Nearly 50 million adults (between the ages of 20 and 74), or 27% of the adult population, are obese; overall more than 108 million adults, or 61% of the adult population are either obese or overweight.

• Over 80% of people with diabetes are overweight or obese.

• Nearly one-third of the US population is obese, 30.5%/ 61.3-million men and women.

• 50% of women aged 20 to 74 are overweight or obese in the US (The National Women's Health Information Center)

• "By 2015, 75% of adults will be overweight or obese, and 41% will be obese," according to a recent study by Youfa Wang, PhD, MD, an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland, USA and May Beydoun, also at Johns Hopkins.

So, just what are the health implications of childhood obesity?

According to the Center for Disease Control, "being overweight or obese increases the risk of many diseases and health conditions, including the following:

• Hypertension (high blood pressure)
• Osteoarthritis (a degeneration of cartilage and its underlying bone within a joint)
• Dyslipidemia (for example, high total cholesterol or high levels of triglycerides)
• Type 2 diabetes
• Coronary heart disease
• Stroke
• Gallbladder disease
• Sleep apnea and respiratory problems
• Some cancers (endometrial, breast, and colon)"

Another study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that obese kids were 5.5 times more likely to have an impaired quality of life than healthy kids, putting their life experience on par with that of kids undergoing chemotherapy treatment for cancer."

Why this is happening is obvious, the question is how to turn the tides.

Resolving this epidemic is going to take each and every one of us making better and healthier choices for our families. Having to fight advertising and corporate invasions in our school system it is a tough row to plow, but it is a well worth the investment and a first step in order to start turning the tides. But if this is beyond your present scope, you can start by making some changes at home.

Here are some suggestions:

• If a weight-loss program is necessary for a particular member of your family, make sure to involve the whole family in adding "healthy choices" so your child doesn't feel singled out.
• You can encourage healthy eating by serving more fruits and vegetables and buying fewer sodas and high-calorie, high-fat snack or processed foods
• Physical activity can also help your child overcome weight issues as well as improve their overall health.

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