Childhood obesity: School solutions

A school health advocacy agenda offers physicians a blueprint to address youth overweight and obesity in their communities.

Editorial. Sept. 26, 2005.

Fall. For children, it is the season that translates into new school semesters and new books -- a new start. For physicians and organized medicine, it is a fresh opportunity to improve the health of those young people.

Consider one critical public health issue worthy of such reinvigorated attention, including new ideas and a heightened commitment -- the obesity epidemic running rampant among America's youth.

The American Medical Association at its Annual Meeting in June took steps to address this problem by endorsing a report by its Council on Scientific Affairs calling on doctors to advocate for change by working locally to make their communities more conducive to healthier living.

As part of the document, special attention was directed to childhood obesity and ways to address it through school-based interventions. The bottom line: Children spend the bulk of their waking productive hours in the classroom. It should be a natural focus in the fight against obesity.

The nation's increasing heft, especially as it affects children and adolescents, long has been a concern for the AMA. Studies show that children who are overweight or obese are more likely to be obese as adults than are children who are normal weight. Additionally, physicians already are seeing increasing rates among obese children and adolescents of co-morbid conditions such as non-insulin-dependent diabetes and osteoarthritis. And for now, the trend lines are pointing in the wrong direction. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the prevalence of overweight children ages 6 to 11 more than doubled in the past 20 years, from 7% in 1980 to 16% in 2002. The rate among adolescents ages 12 to 19 more than tripled, increasing from 5% to 16% during this period.