We can all agree that in the wealthiest nation on Earth, all children should have the basic nutrition they need to learn and grow and to pursue their dreams, because in the end, nothing is more important than the health and well-being of our children…. These are the basic values that we all share, regardless of race, party, religion. This is what we share.
– First Lady Michelle Obama at the signing of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.
The Obesity Crisis
Excess generally causes reaction, and produces a change in the opposite direction, whether it be in the seasons, or in individuals, or in governments.
– Plato
In recent times we have seen a frightening increase in adolescent and childhood diseases including obesity, cancer, learning disorders, diabetes, and heart disease.
A significant cause of these afflictions is unhealthy eating. Most disturbing of these health hazards is the obesity crisis. Since 1980, the obesity rates in the United States have tripled. Americans have long been identified as consumers who indulge and overindulge in fast food and processed food, and who upgrade their servings to oversized portions. With an obesity rate of 30% the United States has a critical problem; however, the obesity epidemic is no longer exclusively an American problem. Individuals in other countries are now affected at similar rates as the United States. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the countries with the highest obesity rates are the United States, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Slovakia, Greece, Australia, and New Zealand. The nations with the lowest obesity rates are South Korea and Japan¾each with only 3.2% of their population considered obese.
Currently, about seven percent of the world population is obese, and the number is rising.
Recent surveys show that in the United States, the rate of being overweight has doubled among children six to eleven years of age and has tripled among those twelve to seventeen years of age. Nearly 8% of children four to five years of age are overweight. Approximately 14% to 15% of all fifteen-year-olds in the United States are obese. Although 8% and 15% may not seem like particularly high percentages, when the numbers are combined for a global impact, approximately twenty-two million children under the age of five years are overweight. More specifically, among boys and girls, with regard to race and ethnicity, being overweight is the highest in Mexican American children, intermediate in African-American children, and lowest in Caucasian children. African Americans, Hispanics, Pima Indians, and other Native Americans have a particularly high predisposition to obesity.
In addition to gender, race, and ethnicity, socioeconomic and environmental factors affect the impoverished population more than the advantaged populations. For example, families in low-income areas may deal with problems of proximity to fast food restaurants, lack of access to playgrounds and fitness centers, the impact of the media, lack of affordable healthy foods, government-funded school lunches that are inadequately nourishing, and so on.
When is a blessing also a curse?
A blessing is having that which you need for your daily sustenance. A curse results when this same blessing is taken to excess so that it becomes toxic. In the United States today, and indeed in many areas of the industrialized world, what was once scarce is now plentiful. Across this great nation where not so long ago starvation was a real threat to life there are now rows of supermarkets and fast-food restaurants, all full to overflowing with nearly every variety of food imaginable. On every corner of every city and suburb, at every highway rest stop, in every mall, Americans can find more food than they could possibly consume, and at bargain prices.
Unfortunately, the food is not always what your grandmother would recognize. Much of it’s processed, salted, corn-syrup, freeze-dried, and modified beyond recognition. It’s designed to be fast, easy, and cheap. The goal is to fill you up and then make sure you come back for more.
The results of the food explosion have been spectacular¾in a very unhealthy way.
In America today, millions of intelligent and well-meaning people¾parents, children, rich and poor alike¾are becoming obese. Not just well fed, but sick.
Obesity contributes to serious health problems including heart conditions, strokes, cancers, and respiratory problems. Each year, ever-younger children are facing the effects of obesity at rates similar to those found in adults. Obesity is troublesome not only because it affects physical health but also because of its effects on mental health and relationships.
What contributes to the problem of obesity? Individual differences in lifestyle and genetics play a significant role in physical health. Environmental factors also contribute to the obesity epidemic. These factors include the media, advertising, fast food restaurants, the family, parenting, poverty, institutions such as schools, and political agendas.
Prevention
It’s clear that many companies and individuals have made healthy eating a priority. The media have responded with positive viewing choices and positive health messages. Political efforts continue to improve the offerings of food in public schools. But efforts should not stop there. Rather than focusing on how to combat the messages and problems that are already out there, we must also focus on preventative measures.
Prevention should be a primary goal in reducing childhood and adult obesity. We will have the greatest chance to successfully reverse the obesity epidemic if we take three steps:
- recognize it as a crisis,
- make it a funded government and public health priority, and
- bring stakeholders together to mount an effective public health campaign in the prevention and early treatment of obesity.
From infancy, prevention should include the encouragement of healthy eating and healthy living. Prevention should have a whole-person approach that addresses sleeping habits, dental care, relationships, mental health, and overall physical health, as well as healthy eating. Prevention should include education, information, and opportunities for action. Building Health Intelligence is a lifelong process that has to begin early in life, and involves commitment and consistency. With this type of investment from individuals who are dedicated to improve, change is possible.
