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Not so Pleasingly Plump: Rising Childhood Obesity (March 18, 2005, One)

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Program Summary

Every parent wants their children to live long and prosper, but they won’t if they’re fat. It’s estimated that one in ten American teenagers is obese, putting them at high risk for Type II diabetes and heart disease and, according to a recent study, ultimately shortening their life expectancy by four to nine months. This may not seem like much, but over the course of the next 50 years it translates into an overall decrease in the general population’s lifespan of two to five years, reversing 200 hundred years of progress in health and longevity.

Why are there so many overweight children? Experts say the problem lies in the dramatic change in our lifestyle. TV, computers, and video games are blamed for making kids more sedentary, while the rise in fast food and sugar consumption has affected their health. A senator has introduced a bill in Congress that would restrict the advertising of food products to children, but responsibility for their offspring’s well-being rests first and finally with their parents.

Guests

S. Jay Olshansky, professor of epidemiology and biostatistics in the School of Public Health of the University of Illinois at Chicago in Chicago, Illinois

David Ludwig, director of the obesity program of Children's Hospital Boston and associate professor of pediatrics at
Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts

Related Links and Resources

BBC News, March 17, 2005: Obesity 'could cut US life spans'
Seattle Times, March 17, 2005: Fat epidemic may thin nation's ranks
New York Times, March 17, 2005: Children's Life Expectancy Being Cut Short by Obesity
Center for Disease Control: Overweight and Obesity
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease to Overweight and Obesity

For Discussion:

• When is a person considered obese?
• Why has the obesity rate in children risen?
• What are the short-term and long-term effects of obesity on health?
• Do you think obesity is a disease or a matter of self-control? Why?
• What do you think should be done by the government to reverse the obesity trend? What do we need to do individually?
• Do you think insurance companies should cover obesity treatments?
• What is body mass index? What is your BMI?

Activities

Chewing the fat. Get some basic information about obesity, its causes and its risks at Obesity (La obesidad) from Teenshealth. What's the Right Weight for My Height? explains the body mass index and has students figure theirs out.

At More Articles Like This, students can find information about diets, losing weight safely, eating out, and more. Older students and adults will get a lot out of information on obesity from the Mayo Clinic (CNN.com), a thorough discussion of causes, health risks, and treatments (including stomach stapling).

Pound for pound. PBS “Scientific American Frontiers” examines America’s weight gain in Fat and Happy? Use the teaching guide to show students how to measure a calorie physically, investigate anti-oxidants and test for sugar content in various juices. A quiz about the show wraps it all up. The Fat teachers’ guide at PBS “Frontline” provides a unit on obesity, weight loss, and eating habits, as well as one on cultural stereotypes about weight that can cause eating disorders in some people.

Bigger? Not better! Get some startling facts about rising juvenile obesity rates in the United States and around the world at Fat or Fit? (PBS “NOW with Bill Moyers”). The accompanying lesson plan aims to motivate students to increase their activity. The drop-down menu on this page links to related activities. You can also find lesson plans on overweight at the New York Times Learning Network. Search on “obesity” and “nutrition” for more units.

For more information and activities (including keeping a food diary and evaluating school food), visit these Science Friday Kids’ Connection pages: Nov 15 2002 Hour 2: The Hungry Gene, April 2, 2004, Hour One: Leptin and the Brain, Jan 3, 2003, Hour Two: Redesigning the Food Pyramid, Oct 4 2002, Hour One: Diet and Nutrition.

Use the search box below to perform a Google search within any of the specifc sites or general domains mentioned in this Activities section.

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