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America’s children are starting down a road of disease and early death, being projected by medical journals as the first generation that may not outlive their parents.
The culprit?
Childhood obesity.
Childhood obesity rates have nearly doubled for
2- to 5-year-olds and nearly tripled for 6- to 19-year-olds since 1980, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Hawaii’s children are not immune. Obesity rates among Hawaii’s children are holding at nearly double what they were in 1980, with little decline in sight.
Those who suffer from obesity are more likely to have a compromised quality of life. They are more likely to suffer from diabetes, with its complications of kidney failure and blindness, along with an increased risk of cancer, stroke, heart disease, depression and death.
In 2014, an 8-year study looked at the effects of fast food on IQ and concluded that children who consumed high quantities of fast food had impaired academic performance.
It’s not all bad news; childhood obesity is preventable and treatable. The answer can be found in local schools, and success depends on members of the community.
The Local School Wellness Policy is in the final stage of being signed into law. This policy was proposed to facilitate the success of President Barack Obama’s Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, which aims to reduce childhood hunger and obesity by providing school breakfast and lunch to low-income students.
The Local School Wellness Policy will bring nutritional education and healthier food option requirements into the schools. Hawaii’s children will have the opportunity to learn about the differences between junk food and healthy food, and the impact these foods have on their bodies.
Most children will choose sugary foods over nutritious foods when given the option. This is where regulations about the options presented in school will help the children make better choices.
The success of this policy depends on each school and each community. To increase the likelihood of success, the Local School Wellness Policy places the burden on implementation on the schools. Each school will be tasked with forming a wellness committee to create a policy for the school.
The effectiveness and success of the policy will depend on the wellness committee formed from members of the community. Each committee must consist of school leadership and staff, community leaders, stakeholders and parents. School leadership will need to reach out to the local community for support and guidance. Personal trainers, nutritional experts, doctors, coaches, chefs, business owners, farmers or anybody who cares about the future of America’s youth are essential to the process.
The most critical participants in all of this are the parents. Children typically spend most of their time either with their parents or at school. The partnership between the parents and the schools in creating, implementing and supporting the wellness policy will make the biggest impact in reversing the obesity epidemic. A parent is a child’s first teacher, mentor and role model; they make the largest impact on a child’s behaviors and habits.
During a conversation with a local elementary school principal in Pearl City, she wished earnestly for more parent involvement with the school’s efforts to teach good nutrition. A child can be taught about sound nutrition and exercise at school, but it’s all for naught if the lessons are not supported in the home.
As Hillary Clinton once famously said, "It takes a village to raise a child."
Today, it takes a village to start turning the tide in the fight against childhood obesity.
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