Child Obesity

The situation: Looking at the statistics from the National Center for Health, we see that the proportion of children considered obese (95th percentile of BMI) has almost tripled for ages 2-5 and 2-19, and more than quadrupled for ages 6-11 between 1974 and 2004.

Some of the explanations for this phenomenon are:

Competitive price of nutrient-poor processed foods: As an example, between 1984 and 2000, the price of High Fructose Corn Syrup has decreased by 23% in real terms, while in the same period the price of fruits and vegetables has increased by 40%. A major factor for the competitiveness of cheap, processed foods vs. healthy, whole foods is the government: Indeed, through the Farm Bill, the government heavily subsidizes these very commodities -corn, soy, wheat, rice and cotton- that are the basis for such processed ingredients as HFCS, hydrogenated oils, refined flours and rice. To learn more about the Farm Bill issues, visit Michael Pollan's website, and check out Daniel Imhoff's very accessible book Food Fight.
As Farmer Al summed it up: "Americans have been brainwashed to think food should be cheap. Processed foods have indeed become cheap. Not only dollarwise, but also nutritionwise."
A new Farm Bill has just been passed through the House of Representatives this summer. As is, a staggering $42 Billion of subsidies are planned for commodities, while a mere $1.6 Billion will go to fruits and vegetables. It is currently reviewed by Senate.

Food corporations marketing to kids: When we compare Coca Cola's advertising budget of $250 million, with the National 5 a day program's mere $5 million dollars budget -a public health organization which promotes consumption of fruits and vegetables-, we can see a drastic difference in advertising dollars.
Another recent phenomenon has been the multiplication of pouring contracts that school districts sign with food companies. This allows exclusivity of their products to be sold in the schools' vending machines, sporting events, cafeterias over a period of time, like say 5 or 10 years. They are also then allowed to advertise in their schools as well.
TV and internet. The average child watches 2-5 hours of TV per day, which translates into more TV watching than any other activity, next to sleeping. Kids are exposed to 30,000 to 40,000 ads a year. Of the food ads, 98% of them are advertisements of food items that are high in sugar, salt, and/or fat, like sugary cereals, sweetened beverages, and fast foods. So in addition to advertising done in schools, kids are exposed outside of school to TV and internet ads.

Other lifestyle issues: PE program funding have decreased substantially -as an example, in Walnut Creek school district, elementary school students get only 45 min. PE per week-, so it is up to parents to make sure their children get a decent amount of physical activity daily, at least 30 min., which has become unfortunately difficult for low-income families.
Also, our environment is not always conducive to outdoors activities -lack of sidewalks, public lighting, insecurity in some areas, etc.

Portion sizes have also dramatically increased in the last 20 years. See our What's in a Portion post.

Processed foods: The proportion of processed foods in our diet has increased to over 51% of our daily calories. To know more about the nutrient loss involved, refer to our Whole Foods vs. Processed Foods post.

Increase in carbs intake, especially sugars and refined flours -which raise insulin levels, and create addiction. Refined carbs like sugars increase hunger sensation, which makes us overeat. They also prevent fat stored in adipose tissues from being released for energy. To learn more about the vicious circle leading to obesity and other chronic diseases, read Gary Taubes fascinating, well documented Good Calories, Bad Calories.

An excellent resource for parents is this guide to a healthy weight in a fast food/fake food world by Dr. David Ludwig, Director of the Optimal Weight For Life Program, Children's Hospital, Boston: Ending the Food Fight.