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Combating The Childhood Obesity Crisis
by author Stephanie Porter

Kids and youth are eating worse and exercising less. Something has got to change.

In his 29 years as a physical education teacher, David Lively has seen "big" changes in his students. Frightening ones.

"I set my kids up for 30 minutes of activity and they’re red-faced and sweating. That never used to be," he says matter-of-factly. "They’re not used to it. My job, my priority, is to get them active."

It’s a tough bill to fill. Lively, who teaches at Holy Cross Elementary in St. John’s, Nfld., has each student for just two 30-minute gym classes a week, if that. He says he doesn’t have time to preach lifestyle changes: he just wants them moving.

People like Lively are in a position to see, first-hand, the declining health of children today. And, increasingly, they feel their hands are tied: their classes are being cut, gym time is being phased out, and junk food–once banned from many elementary schools–is becoming an everyday staple for students.

Teachers who spend their careers trying to get children into a healthy lifestyle are frustrated by the state of their students’ well-being–physical, mental and social. If they’re upset, we should all sit up and take note.

The new sedentary child hood–supported by technology, nutrient-deficient foods, fast and bad-fat foods, media, flashy ads and busy parents–is a major societal issue and, unfortunately, probably won’t change anytime soon.

But change must come.

Two Steps Back

Change is already happening quickly–but in the wrong direction.

Although it confirmed what we already knew, the study published last April in the International Journal of Obesity was fodder for a media frenzy. Its findings? Kids these days are more likely to be overweight, and less likely to be eating healthy than ever before. And the numbers are getting steadily, frighteningly worse.

According to this study, 38 percent of seven- and eight-year-old Canadian boys are overweight (that figure is three times what it was two decades ago). Thirty-three percent of girls in this age group are overweight.

Overall, the number of overweight boys increased from 15 percent in 1981 to 29 percent in 1996. Among girls, it increased from 15 percent to close to 24 percent. Obesity rates more than doubled in that time: from five percent to 14 percent in boys and 12 percent in girls. (Children measuring four-feet/1.2-metres tall are considered overweight if they weigh more than 82 pounds/37 kilograms and obese if they weigh more than 98 pounds/45 kg.)

The problem is not unique to Canada, though we happen to be at the top of the list.

The study’s lead researcher, Mark Tremblay, has been working on this topic for years, and his patience is wearing thin.

Speaking from his office as dean of kinesiology at the University of Saskatchewan, he recently remarked, "We have enough information to tell us we should be thinking about this pretty seriously–because some of the problems will be irreversible from this generation. (These children will) develop disorders and end up on medication before they know it."

"There’s no doubt the trend is getting worse. It’s like driving a semi-trailer–you just don’t stop it and turn it on a dime. We’re going the wrong way on a one-way street."

And it’s a costly road to head down. Being overweight or obese is linked to a long list of illnesses, including diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, asthma and mood disorders. Even if the disorders don’t show up until adulthood, they have their roots in youth. Lifelong habits are instilled in childhood.

For example, US data estimate diabetes will increase by 105 percent over the next five decades (that’s 29 million Americans, up from 11 million). Dr. Jack Holland, spokesman for the Canadian Pediatric Society, believes the trend will be similar in Canada. Obesity, he adds, is "rising in epidemic proportions."

He places the blame squarely on inactivity.

Peter Katzmarzyk, an epidemiologist at York University’s School of Kinesiology and Health Science, estimates that if physical activity was increased by just 10 per cent, health-care spending would be cut by $150 million a year.

If children picked up a few good eating habits, imagine how that number would quickly multiply.

Situation Critical

Former alive assistant editor and a natural health enthusiast, Stephanie Porter is a reporter, health columnist and freelance writer in St. John’s, NF.

Source: alive #239, September 2002