Childhood Obesity, Still a Struggle Daily

Kelsey Layton
7:55 PM
September 21, 2010

Childhood obesity is a problem in the United States and is something that is now trying to be controlled more strictly. Two major research programs have been launched with the National Institutes of Health in the US. Susan B. Shurin, director of the US National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute stated, "Childhood is the optimal time to encourage healthy habits that kids can practice for the rest of their lives". This statement is something that they have been considering greatly. Why wait until the problem has progressed to a point that is too late to help to the fullest potential? $72.5 million are being spent across the nation to work on this problem; they will be examining the effectiveness of home, and school treatments for overweight children. A second program will be spending $23 million to work on community based efforts. Many places to this day have been trying to curve this problem by encouraging working out and fitness and healthy eating but this is still a problem. This issue is something that is very real, and you see it happening everyday in the community, but you have to think where is the base of the problem? Having experience seeing the action being put into full swing in schools switching to serving, "healthy food" to putting wii's into highschool gym classes. You have to think about what is making these children turn to food in their lives, and this makes childhood obesity a social problem i feel. The media everyday on channels that are aimed to children shows that the unhealthy options are the better options, making kids feel that, that is the right option. The institutes need to not only work on getting them in physically better shape, but also to lend emotional help and to make sure that they find out the reason behind this problem that arose in childhood.

http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/fitness/2010-09-18-childhood-obesity_N.htm