The U.S. government estimates that in this country about six million young people are sufficiently overweight to endanger their health. Another five million are borderline, and the problem grows larger every year. Why? Lots of reasons.
Families no longer eat regular meals together. Home cooking is no longer the primary source of meals for many people. Greasy and sugar-laden fast food is cheap, tasty, and available everywhere. Time spent in front of a TV or computer steals time from sports and other activities that burn calories. Manufacturers of snack food and soft drinks advertise their empty calories directly to children. Schools eliminate or cut back physical education classes. Because of concerns about community and neighborhood safety, parents keep their children from participating in informal, spontaneous playground activities.
What is the result of children taking in more calories and being less active than they were a decade ago? Pediatric endocrinologists say, “The children we see today are thirty percent heavier than the ones who were referred to us in 1990.”
Obese children are at risk physically and emotionally. Many become obese teens and then obese adults. They suffer low self-esteem and are candidates for diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, and many cancers. Diabetes alone can lead to damaged blood vessels, kidney failure, blindness, amputations, heart attacks, and strokes.