Obesity in USA (from stageoflife.com)

My Passion Issue: Why are American Children Fat?

Posted: martes, 25 de septiembre de 2012 19:33:05 Since the 1970s, childhood obesity in our country has tripled, and today one-third of American children are overweight or obese. Since President Barack Obama has come into office, he and his wife, Michelle, have taken a stand against childhood obesity. One in three children born in 2000 have a great risk of developing Type 2 diabetes in their lifetime. Many other children are likely to face obesity-related problems, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, or asthma. While a major factor causing obesity in children and adults is exercise and food intake, there are many factors in the environment that also influence obesity. We can work together, along with President Obama, to end this issue. Michelle Obama has taken it upon herself to create the Let’s Move! Campaign. Over the past year, the First Lady’s Campaign has brought together federal agencies, large corporations, and nonprofit organizations from across the country. Let’s Move! has helped Americans make healthy choices about the foods we eat and about how to exercise. In addition, the campaign helps us build heathy habits to fight obesity. A major factor in helping tackle this growing epidemic is the introduction of a new food pyramid, MyPlate. MyPlate was created to encourage balanced meals. MyPlate is a basic guideline to use when preparing meals and can be adapted per person based on different factors. The image displays fruits and vegetables over half of the plate, grains occupying a quarter, and proteins, such as meat, fish and poultry, covering the remaining quarter. On the side of the plate is a circle that is portrayed as a glass of milk but could be substituted for any dairy, such as yogurt or cheese. Desserts have been pushed to be ONLY dessert. Mrs. Obama had made a comment that “the icon is simple enough for children to understand, even at the elementary school level. They can learn to use this tool now and use it for the rest of their lives.” (cite?) It allows children to be healthy from the beginning, which will benefit them their whole lives. In December of 2010, President Obama signed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act into law. The law says that children will be given healthier lunches at school. This allowed children to get the healthy food they need during the week. Although they may not have the best food choices at home, what they eat at school will make a difference. President Obama named September 2011 National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, and during the month the outstanding work of many businesses, communities and families was recognized. These people were responsible for helping meet the needs of youth to better their lives and create healthier lifestyles for children. If we don’t all work together and change our ways, this problem will most likely get worse. “The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a new report in which they indicated that an estimated 42% of Americans will be obese by the year 2030.”