In Our View for Thursday — October 07, 2004

• Overweight kids: The next big thing

Overweight kids: The next big thing

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch – October 5, 2004

Last Sunday’s Post-Dispatch carried a front-page story on soaring health costs and included a special section on the obesity epidemic in children. They may sound like unrelated topics, but they’re two sides of the same coin.

The consequences of being overweight, as photographer Laurie Skrivan and reporter Todd C. Frankel documented in a special section, are first felt in childhood. But they continue into later life.

And they are severe: heart disease; diabetes; fatty degeneration of the liver; gallstones; high blood pressure; sleep apnea; and foot, leg and hip problems.

There’s nothing on that list that we would wish for our children. But this is more than just a personal tragedy. In a nation struggling with health care costs, it has all the makings of financial disaster.

Earlier this year, researchers from Emory University identified 15 costly conditions that, taken together, accounted for about half of the $314.4 billion growth in outpatient health spending between 1987 and 2000. Of the 15, seven – heart disease, hypertension, stroke, arthritis, diabetes, back problems and kidney disease – are linked to obesity.

Most of those expenses were incurred by adults. But nearly half of our nation’s young people already are overweight or obese. An overweight teen has a 70 percent chance of becoming an overweight adult.

As many as 400,000 Americans die prematurely each year from obesity. They often leave behind substantial medical bills. We’re already spending an estimated $100 billion annually to treat obesity-related diseases. All indications are that the next generation will be heavier and more expensive.

These are costs we all bear. Most Americans get health insurance through their jobs. The obesity epidemic contributes to soaring health insurance premiums. We pay those premiums in the form of higher prices for goods and services. We also pay them in the form of higher taxes. The federal and state governments are the nation’s largest buyers of health care; when their costs go up, our taxes are sure to follow.

Personal responsibility plays a big role. Parents must set a healthy example by eating well and exercising regularly. They need to teach their children healthy eating habits, like avoiding snacks high in sugar and fat. Parents also need to understand the role that fatty fast food plays in fueling this epidemic.

At the state level, every state but Illinois has done away with daily physical education requirements. The days of the President’s Council on Fitness and universal physical fitness tests – requiring that kids do so many push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, sprints and distance running – are long gone. Even in Illinois, the requirement has been waived in many public schools. In Missouri schools, kids often get one physical education class a week. Schools also subsidize the cost of high-fat snacks like candy, chips and soda. And some school lunch menus are far from nutritionally balanced. That needs to change.

But, as a landmark study released this week by the Institute of Medicine noted, successfully reversing this trend will take more than that. The Institute called for a comprehensive approach akin to the nation’s anti-smoking efforts. It recommended education for health professionals and children on the effects of obesity; restrictions on television advertising aimed at kids; and greater government involvement at all levels.

Parental concern and consumer demand will result in healthier choices and smaller portion sizes, or so we hope; some fast-food chains already have begun downsizing portions and offering more salads and low-carb selections. But with our health care system already in crisis, time is running short before we’re all overwhelmed by the next big thing.