The battle of the bulge is fast turning into a combat zone. More Americans are overweight and obese, and the numbers have galvanized the medical community and the government, especially where children are concerned.
First lady Michelle Obama has focused on kids exercising
The battle of the bulge is fast turning into a combat zone. More Americans are overweight and obese, and the numbers have galvanized the medical community and the government, especially where children are concerned.
First lady Michelle Obama has focused on kids exercising and eating right, federal agencies are proposing nutritional standards for foods and drinks marketed to children, and some public health specialists even argue that parents should lose custody when kids are morbidly obese.
The concern is well-placed. Carrying extra pounds comes with a hefty price: increased risk of heart disease, diabetes and other chronic illnesses, lessened productivity at work, higher medical costs and diminished quality of life. In New Jersey, 61.8 percent of the population is either overweight or obese, according to a study by the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; 15 years ago, that number was 47 percent.
Begin with Obama’s effort to convert hearts and minds. Her message to families is exactly on target — eat more fresh vegetables and fruits, and stay away from processed fatty foods.
Still, that message can be drowned out by advertisements from the food industry pushing junk food, sugary drinks and cereals. That’s why, in 2009, Congress charged four federal agencies — the Federal Trade Commission, the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Agriculture and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — with creating voluntary guidelines for the nutritional quality of foods marketed to kids ages 2 to 17.
For example, if a breakfast cereal had 8 grams of sugar or more per serving, foodmakers would agree not to advertise it to children. The idea is to encourage reduced salt, sugars and saturated fats in foods and drinks marketed to kids. There’s no labeling involved, or penalties.
General Mills, Kellogg and ConAgra have joined other food companies in releasing their own guidelines. They’re less stringent than the government’s proposal — for example, they would allow 10 grams of sugar in that breakfast cereal serving to pass muster for kiddie ads.
The most drastic measure suggested so far comes from Harvard University’s David Ludwig, who argues in the Journal of the American Medical Association that the most severely overweight children should be taken from their parents.
Yes, parents are responsible for young children. And given that depriving a child of food can be classified as a form of neglect, it seems clear that chronic overfeeding of junk food could be as well. But if the state does intervene in such cases, an education program and regular home visits seem a far better answer than taking away the child.
The obesity numbers are alarming. But all these rumblings are a healthy sign that America may be waking up to the challenge of this epidemic. Let’s hope so.
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