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This week there has been a lot of coverage on the topic of childhood obesity. It’s not a new subject and one that we’re likely to hear much more on this year.
The Boston Globe reports that for the next 18 months, every public school in Massachusetts will evaluate whether students weigh too much or too little by calculating their body mass index (BMI) scores. [click to continue…]
From swine flu to obesity to dangerous plastics, many issues that affect children’s health garnered media attention in the year 2009. Here’s a rundown of the some of the biggest and most important stories:
H1N1
This is the story that caught the most attention—for good reason. Not only is the H1N1 influenza virus very contagious, it appears to particularly affect young people. H1N1 caused more pediatric hospitalizations and deaths than we usually see with the seasonal influenza virus, which is very scary for parents (and pediatricians!). The virus led to countless school closings—sometimes to control the spread, and sometimes because there weren’t enough teachers left to teach! [click to continue…]
Here’s a quick look at what Thrive was up to last week.
Why are suicide clusters more common in teens? Children’s Global Fellow Stephen Sullivan, MD, MPH, addresses the global burden of surgical diseases. KABC in Los Angeles interviewed Children’s Hanno Steen, PhD, about a urine test that quickly identifies cases of appendicitis. Children’s Center for Young Women’s Health youth advisor, Erica, writes a compelling review of the movie, Precious. The HealthMap team gives us our final H1N1 update. David Ludwig, MD, PhD, director of Children’s Optimal Weight for Life Program, just published a commentary in JAMA expressing concern about the widespread use of artificial sweeteners in soft drinks. Our Mediatrician talks about how negative portrayals of black women in movies affects teens. We give a roundup on all of the news this week on the fight for what our children should be eating and drinking.
The fight for what our kids eat continues to rage on. The battle has moved from the home to school lunch rooms, fast food restaurants and grocery store shelves. Fresh versus frozen. Organic and local versus imported produce. Natural versus artificially sweetened beverages.
There’s no denying that we all care about what our kids consume. Yesterday, Children’s director of the Optimal Weight for Life Program, David Ludwig, MD, PhD, wrote a piece expressing concern about the widespread use of artificial sweeteners in soft drinks. (The Washinton Post recently featured Dr. Ludwig on this topic. Also read more of Dr. Ludwig’s articles on children’s health here.)
Minnie Ortiz, a patient of Children’s Hospital Boston’s Optimal Weight for Life Program, is being featured on a new PBS Web video series called Living with My Type 2. Here’s her introductory video, where she talks about not even knowing what type 2 diabetes was before she was diagnosed with it and how, after the death of her mother left her without someone to talk with, she writes in her journal to express the concerns she has about her health.
There is a story the media find irresistible, revisiting it on a regular basis: The government takes over custody of a morbidly obese child, accusing the parents of neglect and endangerment.
These stories continue to shock us, touching upon a wide range of hot button issues including extremes in physical appearance, parental responsibility, government intrusion into private lives, and the health of this generation of children. Unfortunately, these sensational cases tell us very little about the obesity epidemic and the needs of kids today.
Clearly, parents bear much responsibility for the well being of their children. Research has clearly linked child neglect and abuse with increased risk of obesity. One hundred years ago, a neglected child was likely to be underweight. Today–with junk food everywhere and opportunities for physical activity increasingly difficult to find–obesity has become the final common pathway for many emotional and psychological problems in childhood. [click to continue…]
Sugary sodas are the latest target in an ongoing battle against childhood obesity. In an online commentary in the New England Journal of Medicine published yesterday, David Ludwig, MD, PhD, director of Children’s Optimal Weight for Life Program, and a group of public health specialists argue that taxing soda can reduce consumption by making it too expensive, and much like with taxes on smoking, the revenue generated can be used to finance health programs.
They conclude: [click to continue…]
It’s a long-honored tradition: several times a year, parents receive report cards showing how their children have done scholastically. But with continuing increases in childhood obesity rates, school districts and states across the country are considering a new type of parental notification: the BMI report card.
BMI, short for body mass index, is a way of measuring weight relative to height. For the more mathematically inclined, BMI is determined as weight (in kilograms) divided by height (in meters) squared. Among adults, a BMI of 18 to 25 is normal, 25 to 30 is overweight and above 30 obese. Because children grow and develop, absolute cut points can’t be used in pediatrics. Instead, a BMI between the 85th and 95th percentile is considered overweight, and above the 95th percentile obese. [click to continue…]
