The Problem: Childhood Obesity

Survey 2003 - Child Obesity (.pdf)
Source: NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygene

• Nearly three million school-age children living in the United States in 1980 were obese. Today, that number has tripled to NINE MILLION
(Sources: Center for Disease Control; United States 2000 Census)
• Results of a survey of New York City children ages 6 to 11 found
that almost 50% of the children are overweight or obese.
(Source: NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, 2003)

• Obesity is related to many serious physical and mental health conditions, notably cardiovascular disease; diabetes; hypertension; orthopedic complications affecting the feet, legs, and hips; anxiety; depression; eating disorders such as Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia; and other dangerous dieting behaviors.
• Obese children are the target of prejudice and discrimination by their peers, their teachers, their families, and a society that places enormous value on physical appearance. Obese children often turn those feelings of prejudice and discrimination inward and suffer a lifetime of quiet desperation.
• Diets as remedies can be dangerous for children and may lead to eating disorders.
• The ways children learn, play, communicate, and travel have been radically altered by advances in technology that have led to greater and greater physical inactivity.
• THERE ARE NO HEALTH-CARE PROFESSIONALS SPECIFICALLY TRAINED OR CREDENTIALED TO TREAT THE BIOLOGICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, AND SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS OF OBESITY AND THEIR IMPACT ON LEARNING AND LIVING.
• Premature death in adulthood has been linked to childhood obesity.