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Washington, D.C. -
September, 2010 has been designated “National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month.” The purpose of such designations is to focus national attention on a specific issue and generally to encourage all Americans to take action. In the case of childhood obesity, this designation is well-deserved.
Over the past forty years, obesity rates among children ages 2 to 11 have quadrupled. According to the White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity, one in three children ages 2 to 19 are overweight or obese. These statistics have serious ramifications. The White House Task Force found that, among other things, childhood obesity leads to around $3 billion annually in direct medical costs; that Americans spend almost $150 billion a year on treating obesity-related medical conditions; and, that obesity is estimated to cause some 112,000 deaths each year. Believe it or not, this obesity epidemic even has national security implications. One recent study found that more than one-fourth of young people are too heavy to qualify for military service.
While childhood obesity is an obvious problem with many clear solutions, Congress is limited in what it can do to address it. We know that healthy eating habits – eating fruits and vegetables instead of snack foods – leads to healthier lifestyles. For this reason, I successfully added an amendment to the last farm bill to find the best way to encourage the purchase of fruits and vegetables in federal nutrition programs such as the Food Stamp Program. And, I am cosponsoring a bill that would promote healthy menu options in the school lunch program – where about 30 million students eat every day -- and would finally update the nutrition standards and meal requirements for the first time in almost fifteen years.
But, the fact is that the ultimate solution to rapidly rising obesity rates rests on millions of individual decisions. How our children answer if they are going to snack on chips or an apple, or whether they play on the computer or in the yard, for instance, will go a long way in determining how healthy they are.
Parents have the most important and direct role in dealing with the epidemic of childhood obesity. We learn at the dinner table that we should eat vegetables and have balanced portions of protein, starches, grains and fruits. They develop life-long eating and activity habits when they are young. I hope we can all recognize the need to end childhood obesity and I encourage everyone to do something to promote healthier eating and physical activity within your own family or community.
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