Unfortunately, the rate of obesity among our children continues to rise, especially during the pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has continued to warn Americans that “childhood obesity is a serious problem in the United States, putting children and adolescents at risk for poor health. Obesity prevalence among children and adolescents is still too high.” Now, a recent article in The Washington Post titled Obesity Among Children Ages 5-11 Rises During the Pandemic cites to a new study to confirm the growing rate of overweight children.
The article refers to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) of 200,000 children ages 5-17 in southern California during the covid 19 pandemic. It found that children ages 5-11 gained an average of 5 pounds. According to the study, “before the pandemic, about 36 percent of 5- to 11-year-olds were considered overweight or obese, and that increased to 45.7 percent.”
Interviewed for the article was Barry Popkin, an obesity researcher at the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He said that the major causes for this rise were the following: “Kids in school had to be in front of computers, and there were lockdowns that kept people inside. But the bigger increase was the increased purchase of ready-to-eat junk food, foods high in calories, saturated fat and added sugars. The sale of these went up more than any other category.”
What can parents do? Deborah Young, one of the study’s authors, suggested that we should have plans “that encourage kids to be active, that keep the parks open and that encourage the intake of appropriate and healthful foods.” The same applies to times that do not involve a pandemic. The CDC has a website page with links filled with suggestions and tips for parents, including recommended physical activity, ChooseMyPlate website that has information about developing healthy eating habits, and many ways to establish healthy practices. All the links are provided below.
To learn more, please visit:
https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html