Rate of Childhood Obesity Soars 10.8% in Four Years

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. children eat an average three snacks a day on top of three regular meals, a finding that could explain why the childhood obesity rate has risen to more than 16 percent, researchers said on Tuesday.

Children snack so often that they are "moving toward constant eating," Carmen Piernas and Barry Popkin of the University of North Carolina reported.

More than 27 percent of calories that American kids take in come from snacks, Piernas and Popkin reported in the journal Health Affairs. The researchers defined snacks as food eaten outside regular meals.

The studies will help fuel President Barack Obama's initiative to fight obesity in childhood, something Obama's wife, first lady Michelle Obama, notes could drive up already soaring U.S. healthcare costs.

Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, wrote a commentary calling for taxes on sugary drinks and junk food, zoning restrictions on fast-food outlets around schools and bans on advertising unhealthy food to children.

"Government at national, state, and local levels, spearheaded by public health agencies, must take action," he wrote.

Piernas and Popkin looked at data on 31,337 children aged 2 to 18 from four different federal surveys on food and eating.

"Childhood snacking trends are moving toward three snacks per day, and more than 27 percent of children's daily calories are coming from snacks. The largest increases have been in salty snacks and candy. Desserts and sweetened beverages remain the major sources of calories from snacks," they wrote.

"Children increased their caloric intake by 113 calories per day from 1977 to 2006," they added.

CONSTANT EATING

"This raises the question of whether the physiological basis for eating is becoming deregulated, as our children are moving toward constant eating."

In a second study in the journal, Christina Bethell of the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland and colleagues analyzed data from the 2007 National Survey of Children's Health to find the rate of obesity for children 10 to 17 rose from 14.8 percent in 2003 to 16.4 percent in 2007. (Editors note: This is an increase of 10.8% in four years!)

The percentage of children who are overweight stayed at around 15 percent, they found.

"While combined overweight and obesity rates appear to be leveling off, our findings suggest a possible increase in the severity of the national childhood obesity epidemic," Bethell said in a statement.

Parents, educators and policymakers all hold responsibility for this, Michelle Obama told the School Nutrition Association conference in Washington on Monday.

"Our kids didn't do this to themselves," Obama said.

"From fast food, to vending machines packed with chips and candy, to a la carte lines, we tempt our kids with all kinds of unhealthy choices every day."

Other studies have shown that obese children are more likely to stay obese as adults, and they develop chronic conditions at younger ages, burdening the healthcare system.

"You see kids who are at higher risk of conditions like diabetes, and cancer, and heart disease -- conditions that cost billions of dollars a year to treat," Michelle Obama said.

The administration has launched an initiative to tackle the issue by improving nutritional standards, getting food companies to voluntarily improve nutrition standards, help kids exercise more and educating parents.

The effects extend beyond health. Bethell's study found that overweight or obese children were 32 percent more likely to have to repeat a grade in school and 59 percent more likely than normal weight kids to have missed more than two weeks of school.

Commentary

At first glance, constant snacking may be seen as the problem, but this is just on a surface level. We cannot merely blame the kids for constant snacking. It’s not their fault. Blame it on the corporations that make these worthless snacks. Blame it on the kids' parents who mostly want to take the easy way out when it comes to feeding their family.

Problem #1

The biggest problem we have is that some of the corporations that make these snacks invariably include all kinds of man-made chemicals in the manufacturing process. These chemicals literally “hook” the kids. They eat more because the additives in these snacks trick the brain into believing that you are still hungry.

These chemicals are high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) – the real reason behind the twin epidemics of obesity and diabetes in the U.S. – and aspartame, a neurotoxin that was previously listed by the Pentagon as a biochemical warfare agent. How aspartame got into our food chain is the stuff movies are made from, and Michael Moore ought to be all over this for his next explosive documentary.

The Obama administration should ban the use of these toxic chemicals in our foods. This will save billions in healthcare costs going forward. There are natural, safe alternatives to HFCS and aspartame. We should use them. The reason we don’t use them is because they cannot be patented and therefore the manufacturers of these toxic chemicals cannot make billions of dollars whilst they poison the nation.

Problem #2

Parents need to understand the problem. They need to educate themselves about the cause of childhood obesity and how it can be avoided and remedied.

We live in a fast-paced world. Many parents use this excuse to avoid cooking healthy, freshly-prepared meals. This needs to stop. Parents need to become more acquainted with proper nutrition and healthy eating.

Mindsets need to be altered. Lifestyles need to change.

The epidemic of childhood obesity can be stopped dead in its tracks, but it requires commitment from the parents: A commitment to learn, and a commitment to change.

Problem #3

Schools need to be more proactive. They are there to educate. They should pay more attention to health and nutrition education and ban the sale of unhealthy foods and snacks on school grounds. Their pupils will thank them for it later in life. Better still, let’s pass some federal laws banning the sale of unhealthy foods and snacks on school grounds.

Problem #4

We need to educate the children. They need to know why so many of their peers are obese and overweight. They need to understand the importance of proper nutrition and regular exercise.

This education process should be started at schools, but probably will not. And parents should continue the education process at home. They need to lead by example.

FDA Cracks Down on Food Label Claims

FDA chief Margaret Hamburg has pushed forward the agency’s promised crackdown on labeling claims with an open letter to industry, and 17 individual warning letters.

It's time food manufactureres became more honest
and labeled their products correctly.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned in October that it would consider using its regulatory tools “if voluntary action by the food industry does not result in a common, credible approach” to front-of-pack and on-shelf labeling. It has also said it is researching ways in which the Nutrition Facts panel could be revised to make it more helpful to consumers.

Read the full story ….

Commentary

It’s about time the FDA forced food manufacturers to label their products in a more honest manner. They should also ban manufacturers from constantly changing names of products as soon as consumers become aware that a particular product is problematic.

There’s no limit to the deceitful nature of some corporations. Ajinomoto, producer of aspartame, a neurotoxin that is in so much of our food, is launching a new initiative that will rebrand the sweetener as “AminoSweet”.

Aspartame accounts for over 75 percent of the adverse reactions to food additives reported to the FDA. These reported reactions include seizures and death.

Here are some of the documented symptoms caused by aspartame: Headaches and migraines, dizziness, seizures, nausea, numbness, muscle spasms, weight gain, rashes, depression, fatigue, irritability, insomnia, vision problems, hearing loss, heart palpitations, breathing difficulties, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, loss of taste, vertigo, memory loss and joint pain.

And this poison is in so much of our food supply! The food label should have NEON LIGHTS warning us of such chemicals.

Aaspartame was previously listed by the Pentagon as a biochemical warfare agent. This stuff is dangerous! It’s the most controversial food additive in history.

Ajinomoto announced that they chose to rebrand their product under the name AminoSweet to “remind the industry that aspartame tastes just like sugar, and that it’s made from amino acids – the building blocks of protein that are abundant in our diet.” What a load of drivel! This corporation has no conscience whatsoever.

Watch out for AminoSweet and if you see it on any food label in your local store, boycott the product.

Other chemicals to watch out for include high fructose corn syrup (the real reason behind the twin epidemics of obesity and diabetes in the US), bisphenol A (BPA), sugar, sodium benzoate, monosodium glutamate (MSG), nitrates and nitrites.

Forcing manufacturers to label their products in a more honest manner may seem like a solution for some, but the only real protection for consumers is to BAN these man-made chemicals.

The best advice I can give anyone is, if it has a label, you probably should not buy it. Eating healthful, fresh foods is the solution to optimum health and wellness.