Diabetes Education Articles

The New Skinny on Childhood Obesity

Contributed by Fit4D Nutrition Coach
Claire Banks, RN, BSN, CDE

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that "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%.” Sadly, there are many complications associated with obesity, such as metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, depression, cardiovascular disease, bone and joint disorders, asthma, and sleep apnea.

With this in mind, President Obama has taken notice of this growing epidemic and has created a task force led by the First Lady. In his presidential memorandum, he states that the United States will "solve the problem of childhood obesity within a generation." To this end, the First Lady is heading the "Let's Move Campaign." This campaign will focus on:

1) Ensuring access to healthy, affordable food
2) Increasing physical activity in schools and communities
3) Providing healthier food in schools
4) Empowering parents with information

What changes can we as parents make today? In the March 2010 issue of Pediatrics, researchers gave parents of pre-schoolers three helpful and easy household changes they could make. First, limit a child's television/DVD time to less than two hours per day. Second, sit down to dinner as a family, for more than five meals per week. And third, ensure that a child gets around 10.5 hours of sleep per night on weekdays. These three simple household routines could decrease a child's chance of obesity by 40%.

Consult with your child's pediatrician to find out if your child is overweight (between 85-95% on his/her growth chart) or obese (greater than 95%) and/or use the attached link to the CDC website’s BMI calculator at http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/index.html).

If your child is considered overweight or obese, it is important not to place your child on a "diet". Instead, focus on creating healthy eating and exercise patterns for the entire family rather than focusing on weight loss. One example of a positive change would be to serve fruits and vegetables for snacks or add more to your family meals. In addition to healthier nutrient dense meals, encourage your child to be active at least 60 minutes a day. Be active with your child. Go to a playground, ride bikes, play hide and seek inside the house, or dance to music. The choices are endless!

As a parent you may find these additional website links helpful:

CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/obesity/
Let’s Move: http://letsmove.gov/
Action for Healthy Kids: www.actionforhealthykids.org
Department of Agriculture: www.mypyramid.org
Smart Mouth.org: www.smartmouth.org

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