Childhood obesity: Schools try to add more healthy foods to menus

Childhood obesity: Schools try to add more healthy foods to menus -

Obesity is now a health condition that is considered by the most experts and doctors to be an epidemic. Excess weight does not just affect your health - it can greatly reduce your chances of getting health insurance

Over the past two decades, the number of overweight and obese Americans more than tripled .. Today, 64 percent of American adults are obese or overweight, according to the Society of obesity.

The number of obese children has doubled, reported Washington Post in a series on the subject.

For many, obesity begins at a young age.

The childhood obesity is particularly troubling because it has been shown to be much more harmful to children's development. It can affect almost all of their metabolism to their self esteem.

"Being too heavy could distort [the] natural process of growth and development in ways that affect irreversibly the biological pathways," said David S. Ludwig, Children's Hospital Boston.

This includes more serious conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and even cancer, according to the Mayo Clinic and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The CDC also found that the average weight of both boys and girls were up 11 pounds from 02 from 1963.

Acting Surgeon General Steven Galson US called childhood obesity a "national disaster," said the post.

So, what causes the epidemic of childhood obesity? Easy to identify culprit is poor food choices in schools. To fight against the problem in the cafeteria, some schools limit the amount of unhealthy choices and replacing or adding healthier options - like salads, fruits and low-fat yogurt.

"If it was just a cupcake once a month, if it were only snacks at the aftercare ... It's just that all this adds so much junk food, which adds then to childhood obesity, "says Margo Wootan, who is the director of nutrition policy of the Center for science in the public interest.

many school canteens dispose fryers or switch to healthier free oils, trans fats. Soda pop and vending machines are also on the chopping block - to be replaced by machines with healthier options such as water, fruit juice to 100 percent, and skim milk

Some even blame Parents of children to make unhealthy choices

"There are no schools. We all need to be active players in this game to win," said Penny McConnell, director food services for Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia.

But not everyone agrees that unhealthy foods should be taken out of schools, wrote post . Critics argue that the boards and school legislators should not decide what people can have food, it should be them.

Yet there is no doubt the obesity of children is a serious problem.

"This is a wave that is just moving through the population," said CDC director William H. Dietz.

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