Business Matters

For the Rest of Their Lives

By Bill Santamour

This time of year, the last thing anybody wants to talk about is overeating. December is all about overeating—well, that and trying to figure out how you'll get through yet another family gathering without finally asking your cousin why she ever married that guy.

Now, it's none of my business how chubby you are, or how skinny, or, for that matter, how perfectly proportioned. If you're reading this, you're old enough to decide for yourself just how many sugarplums to wash down with the eggnog and Southern Comfort.

But we have an obesity epidemic in this country that's hurting our kids. Statistics have been hitting my desk at a furious rate: 17.5 percent of children ages 6 to 11 were overweight in 2001 to 2004 compared with 4 percent 30 years ago; adolescents now eat 8 percent more calories every day than adolescents did in the late 1970s; 30 percent of meals now are eaten outside the home and fast food contributes to 10 percent of overall energy intake. Twenty years ago, an average serving of fries was 2.4 ounces; today it's 6.9. An average cheeseburger had 333 calories; now it's 590. And we all know how much time kids spend in front of TV or computer screens instead of running around in the yard. One advocacy group estimates that by 2020, 50 percent of American kids will be obese.

The consequences are heart wrenching. Overweight kids often have low self-esteem and are more likely to be severely depressed. As many as 45 percent of newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetes cases are in children, the American Heart Association says. Another report found kids who are overweight at 7 to 13 have an increased risk of developing heart disease by 25.

Still, you get the feeling a lot of people don't want to hear about it. Those TV chefs who giggle naughtily when dumping excessive amounts of butter into their Cuisinarts may have a cute act going on but, the fact is, they're encouraging viewers to serve meals that could make their kids fat and sick—chronically sick.

Hospital leaders get it. The American Hospital Association urged Health & Human Services to make reducing obesity and diabetes a key focus of any national health care quality strategy. Vanderbilt University Medical Center is helping test ways to encourage physical activity for children by involving families and social networking. Intermountain Healthcare launched a free mobile app to engage kids in setting eating and fitness goals and track their progress (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/live/id399837915?mt=8).

That's a tiny sample of how hospitals are teaming with local groups to ensure children in their communities establish healthy lifestyles now so they thrive for the rest of their lives. They know our country would be better off if families ate and played together more, if dining out were a special occasion rather than routine and if a brownie (or two) were a real treat. I'd like to hear how your hospital is confronting childhood obesity. E-mail me at bsantamour@healthforum.com.

No doubt by now you're thinking, jeez, lighten up, already. Which is, after all, exactly the point.

This article first appeared in the November 2010 issue of H&HN magazine.

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