January 27, 2010 *** f o r i l a nò QObsrrUrr Page 15 Families Tackle Weighty Issues c o n tin u e d ¿ ^ f r o n t F ro n t T his could be the new norm al if the epidem ic o f childhood obesity is n ’t resolved. A cross the country A m ericans have been eating fattier food and living m ore sedentary lives w hile piling on pounds. C hildren have been no exception to this trend. A ccording to the C enters for D is­ ease C ontrol, 5 percent o f children ages 12 through 19 w ere considered obese. By 2006, that num ber had ju m p e d to 18 percent. N ationally, nearly a third o f all children are e i­ ther overw eight o r obese. The U .S. has begun m aking e f­ forts to address the grow ing p ro b ­ lem. E arlier this m onth, First L ady M ichelle O bam a called cities across the country to act on the problem . T he C ookie M onster on Sesam e Street has begun singing that co o k ­ ies “are a som etim es fo o d .” B ut confronting this epidem ic, w hich could have serious health and econom ic consequences, w ill require m ore than rousing kids to be m ore active. D eep changes in the m ost basic parts o f p e o p le s’ could be on the horizon the address the issue. R esearch show s that obese c h il­ dren are m ore likely to becom e obese adults and face the sam e health risks, w hich include diabetes, sleep ap ­ nea, high blood pressure, asthm a, and low er life expectancy. This trend could have alarm ing consequences. A ccording to the N ew E ngland Jour­ nal o f M edicine, all the health gains the U.S. has m ade from decreases in sm oking w ill be offset by a rise in photo by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver o b esity . Makalia Brooks keep active with hula hoop and other activities in O regon has been steadily follow ­ the anti-obesity program Portland Play at the University Park ing this trend. In 2 0 0 7 ,2 4 percen t o f Community center in north Portland. O rego n children betw een 10 and 17 are either overw eight o r obese. T he strapped schools and food served land public sch o o ls also banned state already shells out m ore than in th eir cafeterias has becom e in­ sugary sodas from its schools, m an ­ $781 m illion a y e ar on m edical co n ­ creasingly fried and fatty, said Binks. dated physical ed u catio n , and tried ditions attributable to diabetes, a c ­ H eath care experts liken efforts to bring nutritious food into cafete­ cording to the O regon D epartm ent to co m b at o besity to that o f an ti­ rias. A nd O regon launched a farm - o f H um an Services. sm oking efforts. For decades, health to-school program in 2007 that is “ W e are living in an environm ent p ro fessio n als w arned o f the d a n ­ brining m ore n utritious foods to a that is not conducive to m aintaining g ers o f to b acco use, but people kept handful o f schools. a healthy w eight,” said M artin B inks s u c k in g d o w n c a n c e r stic k s. It B ut m ore needs to be done. S tud­ an assistant co n su ltin g p ro fesso r w a sn ’t until “no sm o k in g ” and a n ti­ ies show that im poverished fam ilies at D uke M edical C enter and m em ber cig arette ads becam e co m m o n p lace often lack w alk ab le spaces and ac­ o f the O besity Society. that p eople changed, he said. cess to healthy food, and research E x p e rts say th a t the o b e sity , “ W hen it com es to helping kids, show s that ch ild ren in poverty are childhood and adult, w ill a lw ays be the focus n eed s to be a little d iffer­ p articu larly v ulnerable to this ail­ an issue as long as m aking the u n ­ e n t,” B inks said. ment. h ealthy choice is the easy choice. H e explained that it’s im portant N oelle D obson, a program direc­ Places to w alk o r ride bikes v an ­ to g et them eating healthy foods at to r for the O regon Public H ealth ished as A m ericans becom e d ep en ­ an early age and get routine e x er­ Institute, said that big contributors d ent on cars. T he n a tio n ’s food cise. B inks also said that there can to obesity are “ food d eserts” that supply has also becom e increas­ be som e innovative w ays to acco m ­ often exist in low -incom e areas. She ingly aw ash w ith a steady supply o f plish this, like in corporating p h y si­ explained that som e people live miles cheap and fatty calories. cal activ ity into lessons, as w ell as from a gro cery store, and can so m e­ In 1970,66 percent o f children in the W ii video gam e system that tim e only rarely m ake the trek. A s a the U nited States w alked o r biked to requires users to m ove. re su lt, th ey end up b u y in g u n ­ school. By 2000, that n u m b er w as P o rtlan d has m ade strides on healthy food that lasts long and is dow n to 10 percent. co n fro n tin g the en v iro n m en t that filling. N ationally, physical education fosters obesity. It has activ ely c u l­ H er organization recently landed program s have been cut from cash- tiv ated w alking and biking. Port- a $ 360,000 grant from the R obert W ood Jo h n so n F oundation to a d ­ c h o ice ,” she said. dress this issue, and is w o rk in g to Last A pril, O regon law m akers get stak eh o ld ers w ith affo rd ab le released a rep o rt calling being o v er­ housing to look at this issue. She w eight o r o b ese the “new n o rm ” hopes that m ore low -incom e areas, and a public h ealth crisis. m any in east Portland, w ill get things It called on the L egislature to like fa rm e rs’ m arkets and establish devote m ore m oney for physical urban agriculture projects so people education in sch o o ls and invest $ 10 can get fresh vegetables. m illion a y ear in an anti-obesity ed u ­ “ T he bottom line is, w e need to cation effort. m ake the healthy choice the easy T he legislature funded neither. BUSINES ^Directory State Farm* Providing Insurance and Financial Services Home Office, Bloomington, Illinois 61/10 Ernest J. Hill, Jr. Agent 4946 N. Vancouver Avenue, Portland, OR 9/217 503 286 1103 Fax 503 286 1146 erme hill h5mt)