Facts About Childhood Obesity
Childhood obesity is a problem that needs to be solved as soon as possible. Here’s why:
Rising Rates
Over the past four decades, obesity rates have soared among children of all age groups, increasing nearly five-fold among those ages 6-11.
Today, nearly 25 million children are overweight or obese.
Some experts believe that if obesity among children continues to increase, our current generation of children will become the first in American history to live shorter lives than their parents.
Failing Food
The average teen eats fast food twice a week.
Only 3 out of 10 of high school seniors report eating green vegetables “nearly every day or more.
In a study of 200 neighborhoods, there were three times as many supermarkets in wealthy neighborhoods as in poor neighborhoods leaving fast food restaurants as the most convenient meal option for many low income families.
Sedentary Kids
Almost one in four children does not participate in any free-time physical activity.
92% of elementary schools don’t have daily physical education classes year-round. Less than a quarter of high school students take daily physical education classes.
A typical American youth spends approximately four to five hours a day watching TV, using the computer or playing video games.
Soaring Costs
The indirect costs of obesity (such as missed work days and future earnings losses) have been estimated at $56 billion dollars per year.
Children treated for obesity are roughly three times more expensive for the health care system than children of normal weight.
Severely overweight people spend more on health care than smokers.
