Fighting Childhood Obesity

Fighting Childhood Obesity

Background

Obesity is not a new problem, it is a truly age old health condition. Historians have come to think that the Ancient Egyptians were the first to have problems with obesity. In his writings Hippocrates, the father of medicine, alluded that he was aware of sudden deaths being more common among obese men than lean ones. The public's view of obesity has changed over the years as well. A French fashion designer in the 1900s regarded obesity as unfashionable while he was designing skin revealing clothes. In the 1940s Metropolitan Life Insurance published a chart of ideal weights for various heights. They also advocated that weight gain parallel to age is not ok. Later on the government and the medical society became more aware with obesity by initiating a campaign against the illness. This was then preceded by a study of risk factors of cardiovascular diseases revealing obesity among the higher ranks. Since then many diet and exercise programs have emerged. In 1996, the Body Mass Index (BMI) was published. This statistical calculation and index determined if a person is obese or not. Not obesity has soared since the 1980s.

Childhood obesity has become more prevalent as well, unfortunately. The statistics are scary. "Childhood obesity affects all races and ethnic backgrounds. In the United States, 18 percent of adolescents between the ages of 12 and 19 are obese, 20 percent of kids aged 6 to 11 are obese and 10 percent of children aged 2 to 5 years old are obese. Children who are overweight are much more likely to become overweight adults if they do not change their dietary and exercise patterns. Weight problems are one of the easiest medical conditions to recognize, but treating it is proving difficult (Marks, 2011)." Rates in children have been tracked since the 1960s. "Figures show a telling story. Between 1963 and 2008, rates of obesity among children between the ages of 2 and 19 have been inching upwards. From 1963 to 1970, 4.2 percent of 6 to 11 year olds and 4.6 percent of 12 to 19 year olds were obese. In 1988, 11.3 percent of 6 to 11 year olds and 10.5 percent of 12 to 19 year olds were obese. In 2001, just over 16 percent of 6 to 11 year olds were obese. The last survey, from 2007 to 2008, 19.6 and 18.1 percent of 6 to 11 and 12 to 19 year old kids were obese. Between 1971, the first year results were available for 2 to 5 year olds, and 2008, young kids went from an obesity rate of 5 percent to 10.4 percent (Marks, 2011)."

Why Children, Not Adults?

Why fight obesity in children and not adults? As a Duke Law Journal suggests, "There are a number of justifications for this choice. First, children are a relatively powerless group. Much of their diet is outside their control, dictated by the offerings of school cafeterias, the contents of vending