{"id":1520816,"date":"2022-06-17T13:49:22","date_gmt":"2022-06-17T17:49:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1520816"},"modified":"2022-06-17T13:49:31","modified_gmt":"2022-06-17T17:49:31","slug":"heres-why-obesity-is-the-primary-health-threat-facing-american-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/heres-why-obesity-is-the-primary-health-threat-facing-american-children\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s Why Obesity Is The Primary Health Threat Facing American Children"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fheres-why-obesity-is-the-primary-health-threat-facing-american-children%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1520816&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>What are the biggest threats to America\u2019s children? While there\u2019s a long list to choose from, you\u2019ll often hear people mention <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nejm.org\/doi\/full\/10.1056\/NEJMc2201761\">firearms<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.publicschoolreview.com\/blog\/the-15-biggest-failures-of-the-american-public-education-system\"> failing schools<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/health.clevelandclinic.org\/dangers-of-social-media-for-youth\/\">Facebook<\/a> (as well as other social media tools). The biggest long-term threat to the health and well-being of American children, however, may be something else altogether: food. More specifically, the highly processed, sugar-laden concoctions that, along with sugar-sweetened beverages, have become fixtures in the diets of American adolescents.<\/p>\n<p>The result is a sad \u2013 and shocking \u2013 fact: nearly one in five American children under the age of 19 are obese, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/obesity\/data\/childhood.html\">according to the CDC<\/a>, meaning they have a body mass index of 30 or higher (25 or above is considered overweight). For example, a 12-year-old boy who is 5\u20195\u201d and weighs 185 pounds has a BMI of 30.8. (BMI is calculated by dividing a person\u2019s weight in kilograms by the square of height in meters \u2013 a BMI calculator can be found <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/healthyweight\/bmi\/calculator.html\">here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p>To put this prevalence in perspective, back in 2016 data from the OECD has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oecd-ilibrary.org\/sites\/67450d67-en\/1\/2\/2\/index.html?itemId=\/content\/publication\/67450d67-en&#038;_csp_=77ac5dad9f2cb67b4d2e46c9fc814aa4&#038;itemIGO=oecd&#038;itemContentType=book#figure-d1e2657\">showed<\/a> that the United States has the highest child obesity rate among select OECD, G20, and EU28 countries. Let that sink in. The United States \u2013 one of the world\u2019s wealthiest nations, with a tradition of breakthrough innovations (like the polio vaccine) that have delivered better health to people throughout the world \u2013 is now home to millions of children who, instead of thriving through childhood, are being saddled with obesity\u2019s adverse effects \u2013 from diabetes to depression.<\/p>\n<p>The explanation for weight gain in adults is pretty simple: you fail to burn more calories than you have consumed. It\u2019s more complicated with children, who naturally gain weight as they mature, and over the past 50 years, this natural weight gain has gone into overdrive.<\/p>\n<p>During this period, there\u2019s been a steady erosion in the quality of the American diet. Adults, in particular, started eating more of the bad stuff and less of the good stuff. Predictably, this resulted in obesity rates creeping steadily upward, reaching <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/nchs\/products\/databriefs\/db360.htm\">42.4 percent<\/a>, which is the highest in the world, outside of Kuwait and a few small island nations.<\/p>\n<p>Children \u2013 who are, of course, typically dependent on adults for sustenance \u2013 have been collateral damage as the country has experienced dietary decline. In 1975, only <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/nchs\/data\/hestat\/obesity_child_07_08\/obesity_child_07_08.htm\">about five percent<\/a> of American children were obese. Since then, the obesity rate among children ages 12-19 has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tfah.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/2021ObesityReport_Fnl.pdf\">quadrupled<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not hard to see why. Two-thirds of the calories children consume come from ultra-processed foods. Here\u2019s how <a href=\"https:\/\/bmjopen.bmj.com\/content\/6\/3\/e009892\">one medical journal<\/a> defines ultra-processed foods: \u201cindustrial formulations which . . . include substances not used in culinary preparations, in particular additives used to imitate sensorial qualities of minimally processed foods and their culinary preparations.\u201d In other words, junk food.<\/p>\n<p>The calorie consumption figure comes from a<a href=\"https:\/\/urldefense.proofpoint.com\/v2\/url?u=https-3A__foodandhealthfacts.us4.list-2Dmanage.com_track_click-3Fu-3Da2680485cafe47a9affc149a3-26id-3D7a5cdacdd0-26e-3D9c96ee67f9&#038;d=DwMFaQ&#038;c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&#038;r=BjCdyn4xruH_pVyM9dxFx6h8eEhlAivSfxBVePD5R2A&#038;m=gJYHw0CqxGQoKbFG3AfWwSnltkZ8AKYVBBsP3z7DDyI&#038;s=ey-qT5IZ5SWOnLthUfDzPyS-rushXIsXZU3J-S6dDtg&#038;e=\"> study<\/a> published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study\u2019s authors looked at consumption trends from 1999 to 2018 and found that the biggest increase in ultra-processed consumption came from ready-to-eat (or ready-to-heat) concoctions such as frozen pizza. They were just 2.2 percent of total calories consumed in 1999. By 2018, they were 11.2 percent.<\/p>\n<p>Encouraging children to eat healthily is an age-old challenge \u2013 I loathed brussels sprouts in my youth \u2013 and the challenge has only mounted in recent decades. Processed food and fast food are more prevalent \u2013 and more accessible \u2013 than they were decades ago.<\/p>\n<p>That goes hand-in-hand with another damaging trend: American families are devoting less time to cooking. While preparing meals at home is far from guaranteed to lead to healthy consumption, it\u2019s likely to be an improvement over the fare found in restaurants, which is overwhelmingly <a href=\"https:\/\/now.tufts.edu\/2020\/01\/29\/menu-study-says-dining-out-recipe-unhealthy-eating-most-americans\">high in fat and low in nutritional quality<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Another challenge is aggressive marketing of unhealthy foods to children. Preschoolers, children, and teens viewed on average 2.1 to 2.3 fast-food TV ads per day in 2019, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/media.ruddcenter.uconn.edu\/PDFs\/FACTS2021.pdf\">recent report<\/a> by the Rudd Center for Food Policy &#038; Obesity. The advertising is directed at black youth in particular. In 2019, they viewed approximately 75 percent more fast-food TV ads than their white peers, the report said.<\/p>\n<p>McDonald\u2019s has gone to great lengths to cultivate the youth market. In September 2020, the company started a celebrity endorsement campaign, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.restaurantbusinessonline.com\/marketing\/mcdonalds-reveals-its-multi-level-deal-travis-scott\">initially featuring rap star Travis Scott<\/a>. These endorsements have a clear purpose, helping McDonald\u2019s and other fast food restaurants like it gain access to where children can be found today \u2013 on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. McDonald\u2019s freely admits that its social media efforts are directed at young people. \u201cIf you think about the target we\u2019re focusing on, which is youth and youth culture, that\u2019s where they\u2019re living,\u201d one of the company\u2019s vice presidents<a href=\"https:\/\/urldefense.proofpoint.com\/v2\/url?u=https-3A__foodandhealthfacts.us4.list-2Dmanage.com_track_click-3Fu-3Da2680485cafe47a9affc149a3-26id-3D9221cd7466-26e-3D9c96ee67f9&#038;d=DwMFaQ&#038;c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&#038;r=BjCdyn4xruH_pVyM9dxFx6h8eEhlAivSfxBVePD5R2A&#038;m=xSOq9HJaTyFY9FGvMDHnbi6W6MkIksdAUx0e5y2P1UI&#038;s=uRT00qTP-de5VPYDpRWMCj52VqE1DHj-A0vMOd5Imaw&#038;e=\"> told<\/a> the New York Times recently.<\/p>\n<p>The COVID lockdowns only escalated the challenge of keeping kids from gaining weight, as they had limited<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What are the biggest threats to America\u2019s children? While there\u2019s a long list to choose from, you\u2019ll often hear people mention firearms, failing schools, and Facebook (as well as other social media tools). The biggest long-term threat to the health and well-being of American children, however, may be something else altogether: food. More specifically, the &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":943,"featured_media":1520850,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1520816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1520816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/943"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1520816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1520816\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1520850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1520816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1520816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1520816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}