Who Are We Kidding?

The Rise of Adolescent Obesity

“Our physiology tells us to eat whenever food is available. And now, food is always available.”
Amanda Spake

Americans live for convenience, whether it is valet parking, passing through a drive-thru or taking the elevator instead of climbing a flight of stairs. Our society has grown accustomed to this way of life, and our waistlines are agreeing with us. These conveniences make life easier and faster, but actually it is taking a larger toll than one might think. Due to the expanding waistlines of Americans, obesity has become one of our most prominent health problems. Over the years the average weight of men and women has increased across the country, and has spread to our children (The Future of Children 28 Subcription required). What is ironic about this epidemic is that it is preventable, but drastic measures need to be implemented in order to lower the staggering numbers. Studies have shown as many as “25 to 30 percent of children are affected (by obesity)” (Moran). According to the EMedicine Consumer Health, “Although obesity in children once was rare, it is now one of the most widespread medical problems in the US” (Obesity in Children). The consequences of a lifetime of bad eating habits can be devastating, both physically and mentally. There is a direct correlation with the steady increase in adolescent obesity and the increase of children eating more fast food meals (The Future of Children 29). Even though the United States provides an educational system with a stable environment in which a child can grow and thrive, our elementary schools are making the adolescent obesity problem even worse. The problem with adolescent obesity is underscored with the daily serving of unhealthy foods and snacks in America’s school cafeterias. Serving high fat foods in American elementary and middle schools is a contributing factor to the increase of child obesity. Not only do the adolescents today have a skewed perception of portion sizes, but the meals that are being consumed at school contain nearly half the daily calories for a normal diet. Parents may not realize that high fat and sugar content foods that are being served to their child while at school. With the constant elimination of physical education classes, working families resorting to fast food, and children unable to play outside to get exercise exacerbates the already growing problem. One clear solution to this problem is to eliminate these foods in the nation’s school cafeterias. But this may not be considered as easy for the schools who rely on funding from junk food and soda companies who pay to advertise (The Future of Children 34). If the schools eliminated these unhealthy meals, at least one meal a day would be consumed by school children that are rated nutritious and low in fat.

There are many factors that have lead to a surge in child obesity in the United States. Some factors include children spending less time playing outside, the never ending availability of sugary and salty snacks, and the number of two-parent and single parent working families who use fast food as a primary provider of meals, once again due to convenience. This rise in both parents working outside of the home equates to an increase “in the consumption both of food away from home and pre-prepared foods” (The Future of Children 30). Numerous studies have concluded that the child obesity rates are continuing to increase.

“Over the past two decades, the percentage of overweight children (Ages 6
through 11) has more than doubled, rising from 7 percent in 1980 to 15 percent
in 1999. For adolescents (Ages 12 through 19), the percentage of
overweight children has almost tripled during this same period, rising from 5
percent to 14 percent” (Salinsky).

Today, children are spending more time in front of the television rather than outside. The average television viewing time has increased and this may be due in part to the lack of supervision for adolescents when they get home from school since their parents are outside of the home working (The Future of Children 30). In addition, today more than ever before, many children can’t or don’t play outside (The Future of Children 31). Countless children live in unsafe neighborhoods where playing outside is limited (The Future of Children 33). If a child lives in a family where both parents work, a parent more than likely uses fast food restaurants as a means for their families’ dinner (The Future of Children 36). In addition, due to the recent shortage of school funds, some schools have completely taken away the Physical Education programs that were for some children their only time outdoors (New News). Specifically, President George W. Bush’s 2006 Budget Proposal calls for a nearly 19 million dollar cut to the Physical Education for Progress Program (New News). This program is essential in order for a school to get its outdoor and play equipment along with Physical Education teachers, “The PEP Program provides funds directly to schools for the purchase of sports/fitness equipment and for hiring/training of more Physical Education teachers” (New News). Even though these PE classes are only forty five minutes to an hour long, it provides kids with the daily exercise needed to stay healthy and in shape. However, when there are budget cuts, the first classes to be eliminated from the curriculum are fine arts classes and the physical education programs (New News). The National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in the State Departments of Education continues to stress the importance of recess which allows children to play outside and get some exercise (The Future of Children Article 35). Over the past decade the free play time allocated in elementary schools has dwindled “40 percent of elementary schools have reduced, deleted or are considering deleting recess since 1989, when 90 percent of schools had some form of recess” (The Future of Children Article 35). Since some adolescence live in bad areas that are unsafe to play outside, the recess and physical education classes might be the only time of day a child could run around and play. Without these physical education classes, the ever growing problem with adolescent obesity just continues to get worse.

One way to demonstrate healthy eating habits to adolescents would be to educate a child on how to read a food label, healthy portion sizes, the importance of healthy eating, and the importance of daily exercise. Every day kids in America attend their school for approximately eight hours in order to learn the basics such as math and reading. It is at school that children are educated in order to better their future. School administrators want to educate their students, but wouldn’t this include the fundamentals of healthy eating and exercise? In the classroom, one is taught about the food pyramid and how many servings of fruits and vegetables are needed each day in order to maintain a healthy diet. This should include the study of nutrition, which nutrients we should be eating and how many servings are right for a growing child (Smolin 1). At lunch however these teachings are reversed, food is often available that has little or no nutritional value such as potato chips, cookies, and soda. Children see these foods and want to satisfy their craving of sugar and salt. Most of the time snacks that are available in the vending machines have fat content with more than one serving, even though the packaging looks like it would be for single consumption (The Future of Children 31). Once again the idea of convenience comes into play; the children have a vending machine on campus. As a result, children and adolescents have a skewed idea of appropriate portion sizes (The Future of Children 31). Lisa Young and Marion Nestle researched 181 products over the past few years and have compared the potion sizes, “during the last half of the 1990s portion sizes increased more than sixty times” (The Future of Children 31). Due to the recent distortion of portion sizes, a child consumes more fat and sugar than is healthy for them, highlighting the distortion of portion sizes. Kids notice these delicious snacks in the vending machines available to them at any time, and are unable to recognize that they might just be acting on impulse, and they may not be actually hungry. Or a child would want to eat what tastes good but they have no idea the fat content in these foods or how it can significantly affect them in the future. A simple solution to this problem would be to eliminate all unhealthy snacks in vending machines and through cafeteria sales so that the child does not have access to them, therefore starting to eliminate the problem. However, completely banning unhealthy foods in elementary schools may be more difficult than one might think due to soda and snack companies paying schools to advertise and offer their products (The Future of Children 34). In most schools the cafeteria food program must be self supporting and the only way a school can continue is to allow certain companies to advertise on school grounds (The Future of Children 34). Therefore one must assume which is more important money or the health of our children?

Do parents really know on average how much fat, calories and saturated fat are contained in their local school cafeteria lunches? The answer is: Probably not. The numbers are surprising and would make one get sick to their stomachs. A study published in Preventative Medicine concluded that in fact children were eating an enormous amount of fat and calories while at school. “We estimated that the average student consumed about 26 grams of total fat at school, 30 percent more than the 20 grams recommended, and 14 percent more saturated fat than recommended” (Study: School Lunches Contain Too Much Fat). These numbers are astounding, parents have no idea how much fat their children are consuming while they are at school eating cafeteria lunches. Parents would be better off making a lunch at home for their child since it is usually lower in fat. “Bag lunches had an average of 20.8 grams of fat…compared to the 31.1 grams of fat for the cafeteria school lunch” (Study: School Lunches Contain Too Much Fat). Packing a daily lunch for a child could actually be more beneficial and healthier than one might think. There are many dangers of living a high fat diet; “Many international studies have indicated that there is a link between high-fat diets and increased death rates from hypertension, heart disease, stroke and some types of cancer” (Bean 56-57). Another study found in the article titled “The Future of Our Children” stated how there has been an increase in the average amount of calories in a lunch provided by the schools (Future of Children 34). For example in 1991-1992 the number of calories in an elementary school lunch was between around 715, compared with 1998-1999 where lunch had around 738 calories (Future of Children 34). The number of calories was even higher in middle school cafeterias with around 820 calories per school lunch (The Future of Children 34). In addition, a researcher named Diane Schanzenbach finds that a child who enters kindergarten and eat the regular school lunch, not from home, are about two percentage points “more likely to be overweight by the end of first grade” (Future of Children 34). If parents knew how much fat was contained in their child’s lunches, they might think twice while sending their child with lunch money.

It is no wonder why the children in America are continuing to get larger and weigh more than previous generations. One solution to this problem for the educational system would be to only sell healthy foods in the cafeteria and in vending machines. This would put our children on the right track to a fit lifestyle. “According to a survey of more than 200 schools conducted by the Center for Science in the Public Interest and released at a Washington D.C. news conference, seventy six percent of drinks and eighty five percent of snacks sold via school vending machines were of poor nutritional value.” (Unhealthy Foods in Bulk of School Vending Machine Choices Subscription required). With the ban of unhealthy foods in vending machines at schools along with physical education classes, our schools can start to target the causes of child obesity and begin to treat them. If only healthy foods were sold in America’s schools, our children would probably have no way to access and buy these unhealthy snacks that cause so many problems.
Since there has been such a surge of child obesity in America in past decades doctors have tried to come up with ways to deal with the problem. Specifically the American for Disease Control developed the Body Mass Index (BMI) to be used in charts to determine whether a child is obese or not (Young 644-653 Subscription Required). Doctors hope this new way to categorize obesity will help pediatricians diagnose obesity and begin to treat it.

Maintaining a healthy weight involves more than just eating right; rather it takes knowledge about weight control and the motivation to stay healthy (Health Status and Health Education 398 Subscription required). With help from parents and school administrators teaching good physical health in schools, our nation can fix this growing problem and significantly decrease childhood obesity. When parents want to take an active role in their child’s eating habits, encourage healthy eating and exercise, and demonstrate a way of healthy living, their children are more likely to follow their example and thrive. Not only does it take a school to change its policy, but also our culture, “It must be concluded that interventions at the family or school level will need to be matched by changes in the social and cultural context so that the benefits can be sustained and enhanced.” (Wasowicz Subscription required). It is important to note however that the rise in adolescent obesity is not due to one single factor, rather many factors that have led to the adolescent obesity statistics to spiral out of control. This problem starts with awareness and will take an activist society to change this significant problem to help better the lives of children in future generations. What is astonishing is that according to recent data it is possible to meet “the daily recommendations of three servings of fruits and vegetables for just 64 cents! (Future of Children) Come on elementary schools, parents, educators and advertising agencies, what are you thinking?!

Work Cited

"Study: School Lunches Contain Too Much Fat." Channel 3000. 9 Jan. 2003. www.wisctv.com. 11 Sept. 2007 http://www.channel3000.com/sh/health/stories/health-188010820030109-140140.html

Anderson, Patricia M., and Kristine F. Butcher. "The Future of Children." Childhood Obesity: Trends and Potential Causes 16 (2006): 28-37. JSTOR. 18 Sept 2007. Keyword: Childhood Obesity.

Bean, Susan, Judy Holden, and Stephen Turner. Eating for Good Health. New York: The
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Bond, Shirley, Susan Jebb, and Gary Frost. Health and Healing: The Natural Way Diet
and Weight Control. New York: The Reader's Digest Association, Inc, 1997. 84-
85.

Jackson, Debra, Judy Mannix, Pat Faga, and Glenda McDonald. "Overweight and Obese
Children: Mothers' Strategy." Journal of Advanced Nursing 52.1 2005: 6-13.
EBSCOhost. 28 Nov. 2005. Keyword: Child Obesity.

Moran M.D, Rebecca. “Evaluation and Treatment of Child Obesity”.
15 Feb. 1999. American Family Physician. 14 Sep. 2007
http://www.aafp.org/afp/990215ap/861.html.

Phipard, Esther F. "The Health Status and Health Education of Negroes in the US."
Journal of Negro Education 18 (1949): 398-408. JSTOR. 12 Sept. 2007.
Keyword: School Nutrition.

Salinsky, Eileen, and Wakina Scott. Obesity in America: A Growing
Threat. 11 July 2003. The George Washington University. 15 Sep. 2007
http://www.nhpf.org/pdfs_bp/BP_Obesity_7-03.pdf>.

Smolin, Lori A., Richard J. Deckelbaum, and Mary B. Grosvenor. Nutrition for Sports
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Unknown, Author. New News. National Coalition for Promoting
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