Stark warning on childhood obesity problem
By Danica Kirka, Associated Press
March 5, 2006
LONDON --The number of overweight children worldwide will increase significantly by the end of the decade, and scientists expect profound impacts on everything from public health care to economies, a study published Monday said. "We have truly a global epidemic which appears to be affecting most countries in the world," said Dr. Philip James, chairman of the International Obesity Task Force and author of an editorial in the journal warning of the trend.
Nearly half of the children in North and South America will be overweight by 2010, up from what recent studies say is about one-third, according to a report published by the International Journal of Pediatric Obesity. In the European Union, about 38 percent of all children will be overweight if present trends continue -- up from about 25 percent in recent surveys, the study said. The percentages of overweight children also are expected to increase significantly in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Mexico, Chile, Brazil and Egypt have rates comparable to fully industrialized nations, James said. One in five children in China will be overweight by 2010.
"They're being bombarded like they are in the West to eat all the wrong foods. The Western world's food industries without even realizing it have precipitated an epidemic with enormous health consequences," he said. James added that living in isolated areas was no longer a safeguard to securing quality of life or traditional eating habits. He said children are "being exposed to the world's marketing might," arguing that governments should step in. "There needs to be a ban on all forms of marketing, not just telvision adverts."
Researchers concluded that the prevalence of childhood obesity increased in almost all the countries for which data were available, a trend fueled by more sedentary lives and the increasing availability of junk food, among other factors. The problem of obesity in schools is described by the US surgeon general as "every bit as threatening to us as is the terrorist threat we face today".
The accretion of adipose tissue on developing bodies is already having a damaging effect on their health. More than one million children in Europe are estimated to have high blood pressure or high cholesterol levels, putting them at risk of heart disease, and 1.4 million may have early stages of liver disorder, the association says. Overeating has resulted in 20,000 children suffering from so called "adult onset" or type-2 diabetes, not previously seen in children, while more than 400,000 have impaired glucose tolerance, a pre-diabetic stage which puts them at sharply increased risk of the condition.
Tim Lobstein, co-ordinator of research on child obesity for the task force, said: "The obesity estimates are very cautious but extremely worrying. When we looked at the figures it was astonishing that nearly half of children in both North and South America could be overweight in just four years' time. In Europe we are seeing substantial increases with overweight numbers at 38 per cent - up 60 per cent on the level that we saw throughout the 1990s. It reinforces the need for immediate action to stop this runaway trend. We can only do this if we seriously ... cut down the consumption of empty extra calories in high fat and high sugar food products, and do much more to improve children's opportunities to be active."
The public health consequences of the trend alarm experts, said Dr. Phillip Thomas, a surgeon unconnected to the study who works extensively with obese patients in the northwest England city of Manchester. Because obese children tend to carry the problem into adulthood, Thomas and other doctors say they will tend to be sicker as they get older, suffering from heart disease, stroke and other ailments stemming from their weight. "This is going to be the first generation that's going to have a lower life expectancy than their parents," Thomas said. "It's like the plague is in town and no one is interested."
Another doctor who examined the journal report was Dr. Brian McCrindle, a childhood obesity expert and professor of pediatrics with a pediatric hospital in Toronto. He warned that the looming problem must be addressed. "The wave of heart disease and stroke could totally swamp the public health care system," he said. He warned that lawmakers had to take a broader view of the looming problem -- and consider doing things such as banning trans fats and legislating against direct advertising of junk food toward children. "It's not going to be enough any more just to say to the consumer 'You have to change your behavior,'" he said.
but these same individuals should have their decisions costed in their private health insurance prices.
), the education system or video games is just annoying.
