Chicago Sun-Times Editorial - Pounding home the truth: Obesity can't be taken lightly
Chicago Sun-Times Editorial - Pounding home the truth: Obesity can't be taken lightly
Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times
June 15, 2007
It's time to stop being so diplomatic and start referring to truly fat children as obese. That was the sensible conclusion last week of a committee of medical experts convened by the American Medical Association and funded by federal health officials. The group was formed to design guidelines to help doctors and other medical professionals combat obesity in children, a problem that has spiked in the last decade.
The idea is not to be cruel, but to more straightforwardly convey the health risks that accompany excessive weight, including diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Old guidelines opted for "overweight" instead of "obese" due to fears that the blunter label could stigmatize the child, but the group argues the problem is getting so serious that doctors should stop mincing words and confront it directly in a sensitive and careful way.
The group also made other recommendations aimed at fighting the problem, including evaluating eating habits, limiting TV watching and encouraging physical activity. With those ideas in mind, it was refreshing to see Kellogg's announcement this week that it would reformulate some of its products to meet nutritional guidelines or stop advertising them to children. Combatting childhood obesity is hard enough as it is; the pervasive and subversive advertising of unhealthy foods certainly doesn't help.
Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times
June 15, 2007
It's time to stop being so diplomatic and start referring to truly fat children as obese. That was the sensible conclusion last week of a committee of medical experts convened by the American Medical Association and funded by federal health officials. The group was formed to design guidelines to help doctors and other medical professionals combat obesity in children, a problem that has spiked in the last decade.
The idea is not to be cruel, but to more straightforwardly convey the health risks that accompany excessive weight, including diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Old guidelines opted for "overweight" instead of "obese" due to fears that the blunter label could stigmatize the child, but the group argues the problem is getting so serious that doctors should stop mincing words and confront it directly in a sensitive and careful way.
The group also made other recommendations aimed at fighting the problem, including evaluating eating habits, limiting TV watching and encouraging physical activity. With those ideas in mind, it was refreshing to see Kellogg's announcement this week that it would reformulate some of its products to meet nutritional guidelines or stop advertising them to children. Combatting childhood obesity is hard enough as it is; the pervasive and subversive advertising of unhealthy foods certainly doesn't help.
posted by Carlos T Mock at 8:02 AM
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