Eating, exercising right

Saturday, May 22, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.

Children today are more overweight than they once were. That isn’t particularly newsworthy because this has been evident for some time. But a White House task force on childhood obesity, which released its report last week, brings home powerfully just what a problem this has become. Government statistics reveal that one in every three children and adolescents are either overweight or obese.

It wasn’t always like this. Indeed, the task force noted that obesity is becoming more prevalent among all ages. But, when looking at childhood obesity alone, the rates have skyrocketed. In 1972, 6 percent of children were considered obese, but by 1992 this figure had risen to more than 10 percent, and to 17 percent by 2008.

First lady Michelle Obama has taken up the cause of getting children to live healthier lives and, in the release of the report, mentioned just how devastating obesity can be. Those who are obese run a greater risk of developing a number of maladies, including diabetes, asthma, heart disease and several cancers. In terms of the cost in dollars, it’s estimated that the overall medical spending caused by obesity in the United States was $147 billion in 2008.

So how did we get to this dreadful situation?

The task force cited a number of contributing factors to children being overweight, and they should come as no surprise to adults or, for that matter, to children. For starters, the diet of many children and young adults is poor, lacking in nutritional value. This can be credited to Americans who increasingly eat out, and the fare that restaurants serve — especially fast-food joints — often is unhealthy. Even for parents who emphasize eating at home, healthier food often costs more than less-nutritional food. For that matter, the food companies, through their advertising, often push products that aren’t good for kids. Although some school districts are doing better in providing food with better nutritional value, the reality is that it isn’t nearly what it should be.

This isn’t just about diet, though. Children don’t get nearly as much exercise as they once did. They spend too many hours watching TV or playing video games. And, they don’t get enough exercise at school. Schools have cut back on the time allocated to physical education courses and recess, whether it’s for budgetary reasons or trying to allot more time for classroom instruction.

Obama, in reviewing the task force’s findings, acknowledged the wheel doesn’t need to be reinvented to find strategies to reverse the trend in obesity. To get to the goal set by the first lady — to end the epidemic of childhood obesity in a generation — will require dedication. This dedication will need to be all-encompassing, involving parents, schools, food-makers, restaurants and elected officials.

When it comes to parents, they simply need to do a better job in making sure that their children eat right — more fruits and vegetables, and less junk food, would be a good beginning. And once the children are at school, they need to be served more nutritious food that also tastes good — and, yes, they don’t have to be mutually exclusive, although it’s definitely more difficult serving thousands of students. Schools also must find the time and money so that children get more physical activity at school, and that means more P.E. classes and more time devoted to recess.

We also were glad to see the task force encourage restaurants to improve their children’s menus to provide healthier foods. We don’t have anything against chicken fingers and french fries, but is this really healthy? In one of the more controversial recommendations, the task force said the food and beverage industries should reduce their marketing of unhealthy products to children and provide improved nutritional labels. Although the food and beverage companies have done a better job in recent years in offering healthier choices, they clearly can do better, and it was encouraging that this week some of the largest of these companies announced they would reduce the overall calories in their products.

The bottom line is that if we want children to grow up healthy, leading good and productive lives, then all of us need to make a genuine effort to feed them the right foods and, for goodness sake, make sure they get outside and play so they can burn off those calories.