Over the past decade, numerous mainstream media outlets have been casting their spotlight on the worsening obesity epidemic among children, both domestically and internationally. While research on this epidemic has led to a consensus that it is indeed a growing problem, there is still rampant speculation as to the sources of causation. While it is easy to point the finger at potential causal factors such as excessive fast food consumption and ethnic/genetic predispositions, the truth of the matter is substantially more complex. It is important for the public (and particularly for parents) to be able to discern between legitimate sources of causation as opposed to alleged sources that have been routinely targeted by mainstream media outlets which may have little or no verifiable impact on childhood obesity.
From a statistical standpoint, it is impossible at this point to deny that we are indeed dealing with a childhood obesity epidemic. Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) demonstrates a frightening increase in childhood obesity rates over the course of three decades. When the NHANES data samples from 1976-1980 were contrasted with data samples from 2003-2006, they showed that the prevalence of obesity in children aged 2-5 years had more than doubled from 5.0% to 12.4%. Even more alarming, obesity rates among children aged 6-11 years had nearly tripled from 6.5% to 17.0% while children aged 12-19 years had more than tripled from 5.0% to 17.6% ("Trends" 2006).
While it is obvious that there is a problem, what is not so obvious is how to best deal with it. The war that is currently being waged against the worsening obesity epidemic has raised two very significant questions. Firstly, what are we to do to try to reverse the trends that we are currently seeing, and secondly, what can we do in terms of early intervention in order to prevent childhood obesity issues in the future? Many of our largest mainstream media outlets (newspapers, magazines, televised news, etc.) have cast a spotlight on the childhood obesity epidemic over the past decade but sadly, they have often failed to illuminate the real culprits that are to blame for skyrocketing obesity rates among our nation's children. In their attempts to answer the question of how do we mitigate or even reverse an obesity trend that is rapidly leading towards a future health crisis as our children age, they have too often pointed the finger at scapegoats such as fast food advertising campaigns (often geared towards children) and unchecked video gaming. While these factors have undoubtedly played their part in contributing to the childhood obesity epidemic, they are not solely to blame.
Some mainstream media outlets have suggested that the existence of "fat genes" may genetically predispose certain children to being overweight which in turn may help to explain the burgeoning obesity epidemic. While there is research to support the role of genetics in determining one's metabolic rate and subsequently one's tendency to retain calories and fat, the same research does little to explain unprecedented rates of obesity in American children over the past twenty years. After all, if genetics was a key factor in the obesity epidemic, then why wasn't it a problem decades ago, before the propagation of fast food establishments and video games? The simple truth is that the childhood obesity epidemic is a multi-faceted issue with several sources of causation, some being more critical than others.
One glaring, inescapable fact that has arisen from various studies on childhood obesity is that rates of obesity tend to spike within inner-city, low-income neighborhoods. As researchers sought to explain this trend, they began to take notice of some correlating factors. Firstly, inner-city families subsisting on low incomes typically do not have access to healthier food choices and, even if they did, can not always afford items like fresh produce or other food items that are minimally processed. Secondly, lower-income, highly urbanized neighborhoods tend to be saturated with fast food establishments that offer "meal deals" that provide money-saving and time-saving alternatives to making a trip to the grocery store and preparing a meal at home. Lastly, efforts to combat these calorie and fat-laden meals through outdoor recreation and exercise are often hampered by the fact that many inner-city children do not have access to safe areas for play due to gang activity and poor lighting and supervision of neighborhood playgrounds and parks.
While such factors provide us with causation for escalating rates of childhood obesity within inner-city neighborhoods, they do not explain why childhood obesity rates continue to rise all across America, even in more rural locales where access to healthier foods and safety are not issues. To help explain why childhood obesity continues to be a problem in these areas, researchers began to look at what children are eating in the course of a typical day and where they are spending the bulk of their time. In other words, researchers began looking at our children's schools.
It would come as no surprise to most people that school cafeterias don't always offer the healthiest dietary choices to their students. For school lunch programs, the established federal guidelines for recommended dietary allowances (RDA) allows for no more than 30% of caloric intake to come from fat, with less than 10% coming from saturated fat (2006, p. 110). Yet, in one study published by the General Accounting Office at the request of Congress, researchers found that despite efforts since the mid 1990's to reduce school lunches' caloric content (from fat) to 30% or lower, most lunches were still averaging at least 34% and on some occasions, significantly higher (GAO, 2010). The study also highlighted the fact that student's access to unhealthy food choices and sodas through school vending machines was significantly contributing to the prevalence of overweight students. These findings coupled with a lack of proper nutrition education led researchers to the conclusion that one of the primary culprits behind America's worsening childhood obesity epidemic was school-based lunch programs and student access to cacarbohydrate-laden snacks/sodas at most school campuses across the nation.
The good news in all of this is that there is currently a nation-wide push within our public school system to educate students about making healthier dietary choices and to greatly decrease student access to unhealthy snack foods via vending machine sales. Many schools that have opted to keep vending machines on their campuses are now offering low-calorie alternatives in place of sodas and calorie and fat-laden snacks. Meanwhile, the pressure is still on school cafeterias to meet federally-mandated nutrition guidelines which will hopefully play a significant part in curbing the obesity epidemic. While childhood obesity rates within inner-city neighborhoods continues to be an issue, it is hoped that between public school dietary changes and community action programs, the causal factors behind inner-city childhood obesity can be mitigated for the health of our nation's children.
References:
Anderson, P. M., & Butcher, K. F. (2006). Childhood obesity: Trends and potential causes. The Future of Children, 16, 1, 19.
GAO. (2010). Internet. Retrieved from http://www.gao.gov.items/d03506.pdf
Story, M., Kaphingst, K. M. & French, S. (2006). The role of schools in obesity prevention. The Future of Children, 16, 1, 109+.
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