Sensei Talks  

“We’ve simply never had a generation that’s been this heavy from so early in life. The consequences of that are unprecedented and unknown.” - Dr David Ludwig, Obesity Program Director, Children’s Hospital Boston

Childhood obesity is somewhat of a soapbox for me. I believe it’s our responsibility as adults, parents and teachers to protect children and teach them the skills they need to be happy, healthy and successful adults. It appears we’re failing in the ‘healthy’ part.

Two recent reports support this. The first, a Danish study, looked at data from almost 300,000 children born between 1930 and 1976 through adulthood. The second is a computer generated estimation of health outcomes in U.S. teens as they age.

About 1/3 of U.S. children are overweight. We know that adult diseases (like heart disease and diabetes) are occurring at younger ages in overweight individuals, even in childhood. The Danish study showed that the more overweight a child, the greater their risk of heart disease in adulthood. U.S. projections take this a step further by making predictions for today’s teens. By the time these teens reach 50 heart disease rates could increase by 5% and death rates from heart disease could increase by almost 20%. Many of these outcomes are expected in the 35-50 year age group.

Society sounds a call to arms when poor children are found suffering from malnourishment. Why is it that the ‘overfeeding’ of our children doesn’t seem to strike the same chord? I’d like to see more resources out there to educate families. How about you?

- Renee