Childhood Obesity is on the Rise

The number of overweight children in the United States has increased dramatically in recent years. Approximately 10 percent of 4 and 5 year old children are overweight, double that of 20 years ago. Obesity increases even more as children get older. For ages 6 to 11, at least one child in five is overweight. Over the last two decades, this number has increased by more than 50 percent and the number of obese children has nearly doubled.

For most children, overweight is the result of unhealthy eating patterns (too many calories) and too little physical activity. Since these habits are established in early childhood, efforts to prevent obesity should begin early. According to the National Association of Sport and Physical Education, children should:

1. accumulate at least 60 minutes, and up to several hours, of age-appropriate physical activity on all, or most days of the week. This daily accumulation should include moderate and vigorous physical activity with the majority of the time being spent in activity that is intermittent in nature.
2. participate in several bouts of physical activity lasting 15 minutes or more each day.
3. participate each day in a variety of age-appropriate physical activities designed to achieve optimal health, wellness, fitness, and performance benefits.
4. NOT be inactive for extended periods (periods of two hours or more) during daytime hours.

Commissioner of Health, Dr. Daines, made a health video called 'Soda vs. Milk.' Check it out in English or Spanish. 

New York has a strategic plan and a wide variety of programs in place to help combat the obesity epidemic.

Healthy Living Programs • Activ8Kids! - Childhood Obesity Prevention Program • Strategic Plan for Overweight and obesity Prevention
• Steps to a HealthierNY • BMI Screening Tools

Nutrition Programs • Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) • Commodity Supplemental Food Program                        • Eat Well Play Hard (EWPH)                                            • Farmers' Market Nutrition Program
• Growing Up Healthy Hotline • Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program •  The Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance System • WIC - Women, Infants, Children

Nutrition-Related Information • Preventing Childhood Obesity: Tips for Child Care Professionals • Preventing Childhood Obesity: Tips for Parents • Child Nutrition Resources
• Eating Disorders • Guidelines for Healthy Meetings • Nutrition Data and Statistics

Is Your Child Overweight?
Parents should not make changes to a child's diet based solely on perceptions of overweight. All children exhibit their own individual body structure and growth pattern. Assessing obesity in children is difficult because children grow in unpredictable spurts. It should only be done by a health care professional, using the child's height and weight relative to his previous growth history.

Helping Overweight Children
Weight loss is not a good approach for most young children, since their bodies are growing and developing. Overweight children should not be put on a diet unless a physician supervises one for medical reasons. A restrictive diet may not supply the energy and nutrients needed for normal growth and development.

For most very young children, the focus should be to maintain current weight, while the child grows normally in height.

The most important strategies for preventing obesity are healthy eating behaviors, regular physical activity, and reduced sedentary activity (such as watching television and videotapes, and playing computer games).