New GAO Report on Childhood Obesity
An alert Swanson parent provided this link for a 7 October 2005 Government
Accounting Office (GAO) report to Congressional Requesters addressing childhood
obesity. It makes a strong recommendation for physical activity, but also
improving nutritional input. It has several anecdotal comments about improving
school-based nutrition and wellness.
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d06127r.pdf
Leannah Harding provided the following summary of the report:
Childhood Obesity Is Increasing
Over the past 30 years, the number of obese children has greatly increased to
become a threat to the public health. The rate of childhood obesity has more
than tripled for children between the ages of 6 and 11 and there are
approximately 9 million children nationwide over the age of 6 who are considered
obese. Obesity results any time there is more energy intake than energy
expenditure. The rates of illnesses associated with obesity, such as type II
diabetes and hypertension, have also increased. Children with obesity may also
be affected by stigma, depression, sleep apnea, orthopedic problems, and a
negative body image.
Children may learn about nutritional eating in school, but may not have access
to healthy foods at home or in the community or have role models who eat
nutritional foods. A government survey offered several suggestions to combat
obesity, including encouraging children to drink more water and less juice and
soda, do more walking, watch less television, and play fewer video games. At one
school in the survey, a salad bar was added to the menu, while in another, small
prepared salads were added. One school noted that children received mixed
messages: Children were educated at one school about healthy eating while being
served unhealthy food in the cafeteria. For a copy of the GAO survey, see
Enclosure III of the Report (link above).
The government study suggested that increasing physical activity is the best way
of reducing childhood obesity. The second way is to target nutrition, especially
by decreasing the exposure children have to food advertising and marketing.
Nutrition was ranked second because it was deemed more difficult to explain to
parents how to plan healthy meals.
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