As the CWI course is coming to an end, I am very happy to say that there is a glimmer of good news in the world of childhood obesity. This article As Childhood Obesity Improves, discusses how childhood obesity has begun to level off. There has been two decades of dramatic growth, so this is a huge improvement! Unfortunately, there is one downfall: this improvement seems to apply to only some kids, not all. Childhood obesity has been a huge problem in low-income families like I have discussed many times in previous posts. The problem is that the improvement is not really showing to be better in these low-income families. So a question now arises: "As Childhood Obesity improves, will kids in poverty be left behind?"
"A new study appearing in the May issue of the journal Pediatrics offers the latest evidence that less affluent children are faring worse when it comes to obesity. The study, which included a diverse group of nearly 37,000 Massachusetts children under age six, found that between 2004 and 2008 the obesity rate fell by 1.6 and 2.6 percentage points among boys and girls, respectively." As the researchers expected, the decline was more noticeable among children with non-Medicaid health insurance than those on Medicaid. This study was done in Massachusetts, not everywhere in the world so it does not necessarily mean that this is all over the United States. They say that it is still unclear if this pattern is occurring elsewhere.
"We should be cautious
about assuming that this trend found in one practice in eastern
Massachusetts generalizes to the entire U.S.," says John Cawley, Ph.D., a
professor of economics and co-director of the Institute on Health
Economics, Health Behaviors and Disparities at Cornell University, in
Ithaca, New York.
Question: Do you think this study will be proven to be happening all over the United States? What do you think can be done to help the kids in poverty?
Bibliography
Harding, Anne. As childhood obesity improves,
will kids in poverty be left behind? 1 May 2012. 2 May 2012
<http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/01/health/childhood-obesity-poverty/index.html>.
Unfortunately, I do not think that this study will be proven throughout the rest of the United States. In 2010, twelve states in America increased their obesity rate, being at least 30% of the population, leaving Massachusetts’ alone in their decrease of the percentage of obese children. Like you said, it is great news that the obesity rate of children has decreased, but there are still so many people suffering from obesity who are stuck and don’t know what to do because of their financial situations. Wealthier families are able to buy healthy options that tend to be more expensive, but those who can’t afford to spend a lot of money on groceries are left behind. They lean towards fast food because the prices are so low and affordable, but they most definitely are not a healthy option. Here’s where the government need to step in to help solve this issue. They could give these obese impoverished citizens vouchers for only fresh produce. That way they wouldn’t have to worry about their tight budget as much and have much healthier foods to choose from, instead of choosing meals off of the McDonald’s dollar meal.
ReplyDeleteUSA.gov. "Overweight and Obesity." 27 April 2012. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. 5 May 2012.
In my opinion, I agree with Blair and believe that this study will not be very helpful because Massachusetts is only a small section of the affected country. In order for the study to be more effective, people from every state should have been used, not just those from one state. If fast food restaurants offered healthier choices at the same price as their fattening food, I believe that this will help decrease the rate of obesity because people will be able to get healthier for at a cheaper price. Also, the government should come up with a system of coupons where every month each family can receive a certain amount of fresh food and vegetables, in order to enrich their diets. If these two plans are executed I truly believe that the rate of obesity will drastically decrease.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion I think the improvement in Massachusetts is very exciting yet not necessarily an indication of the progress in childhood obesity around the world. I think it is unfortunate for the low-income families to have to turn to cheap fast food but sometimes it appears as if they have no other choice. One simple step in the right direction would be improving the lunch menu in the children’s public schools (assuming they go to school). A minor but important step like that should be more carefully looked into and applied. Another major influence on the children’s diet is their parents, not only what they buy for them to eat but then what the influence them to do when they are not eating. If parents urged their children to take on more physical activities such as sports or just playing with their friends more actively I think that could also be another step in the right direction. It’s going to take a while but I think this problem could be solved eventually.
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