Fat kid explosion

Facts about kids in the US from Jane Brody's recent article in the NYT:

• 1/4 of all school-age children are now overweight
  
• 1/8 are obese
  
• It's a 2x increase over 20 years ago
  
• Obesity accounts for > 300,000 premature deaths a year and direct health care costs > $61Billion
  
• 26% of children 8-16 watch 4 or more hours of TV per day.
  
• In 1991, 46% of high school kids had daily PE classes; in 1999 it was 29%.
  
• Other bad trends in schools: Schools are "bribed" to install soda and candy machines, usually in or near the cafeteria. School lunches are riddled with fat, often from well-known fast-food companies.
  
• The original McDonald's burger/fries/coke was 590 calories. Today's super-size meal is 1550.
  

It's of course really up to parents to encourage healthy eating and exercise, including activism in the schools, I think. Get those coke machines the hell outa there.

April 24, 2002 12:17 PM