With nearly 33% of children in America considered to be overweight or obese - a rate that has tripled in adolescents and more than doubled in younger children since 1980 - an Obama Administration task force recently established a goal of reducing the childhood obesity rate to just 5% by 2030, less than a generation away.
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According to C & R's Youth Beat, kids eat at a restaurant 2.5 times a month. In an average 30-day month, there are 150 meal occasions:
- 30 Breakfasts
- 30 Lunches
- 30 Dinners
- 60 Snacks (at twice a day)
If kids are only going to restaurants 2-3 times a month, they account for only
2 percent of all meal occasions.
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President Bill Clinton Honors 179 U.S.
Schools
The Alliance for a Healthier Generation, founded by the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation, today recognized 179 schools that have transformed their campuses into healthier places for students and staff.
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According to an article from startribune.com, The University of Minnesota recently received a$7 million federal grant to create a childhood obesity center in an effort to transform the exercise and eating habits of Minnesota families.
“Researchers will use the grant, announced Thursday, to connect families with health advocates in medical clinics, enroll them in classes about healthy foods and active lifestyles, and improve their access to healthful foods and recreation opportunities.
While U researchers have tried these approaches individually, they’ve never wrapped them all around families at once. The goal is to address the multiple social factors that can lead to obesity: lack of access to parks and walking trails, poor food options in low-income neighborhoods and excessive amounts of television and screen time.
These and other influences have fueled a startling increase in American obesity in the past three decades, as well as related health problems such as diabetes, heart disease and even preterm births. The share of children ages 12 to 19 who are overweight has tripled in the United States since 1980. The last survey of Minnesota high school seniors in 2007 found 13 percent of males and 5 percent of females were overweight. Two out of every three Minnesotans are now overweight or obese.”
