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Childhood Obesity

Posted By: Derek Maxfield on 04/12/2011

Each Monday I display a health article from the G section in the Boston Globe.  This Monday the weekly article really caught my attention.  It was about childhood obesity - specifically about how gastric bypass surgery is now being performed on teenagers.  The article stated that 34.9% of kids aged 6-18 are overweight, 18.8% are obese, and 18.5% are very obese.

Those numbers were staggering to me.  We are well aware that obesity in adults is a serious issue, but it is clearly becoming a major problem with children and teenagers also.  Why?  I am not out 'in the field' to identify what is causing this epidcemic, but I would guess it has to do with inactivity i.e. video games instead of kickball or organized sports for example; and most of all, the unhealthy food being eaten - whether it be at school or at home, or at restaraunts.

It was quite sad to see that parents are falling back on a surgery that so drastically alters a person's body to reduce a child's weight.  We can only stress that people do things the natural way which will be a lot more healthy in the long run - yielding to dramatically alter a child's organs at such a young age.