In a meeting of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Food and Nutrition Board and Board on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, a series of recommendations were reported to help stem the alarming increase in childhood obesity in the U.S.
More than nine million American children six years and older are defined as obese – with a body mass index (BMI) equal to or greater than the 95th percentile of age-related charts developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This is two to three times the number of obese children from just one generation ago.
Among the recommendations made by the IOM expert panel:
- Schools should implement nutritional standards for all foods and beverages served on school grounds, including those from vending machines.
- Schools should expand opportunities for all students to engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity each day.
- The food, beverage, and entertainment industries should voluntarily develop and implement guidelines for advertising and marketing directed at children and youth.
- Restaurants should continue to expand their offerings of nutritious foods and beverages, and should provide calorie content and other nutrition information.
- Parents must play their part as well, by providing healthy foods in the home, by encouraging physical activity, and by limiting their children's recreational TV, videogame, and computer time to less than two hours a day.
- Parents should stock their homes with healthy products, particularly fruits and vegetables, to encourage their kids to choose them as snacks. Many concerns have been raised about whether or not increased consumption of sweetened beverages, such as soft drinks and flavored drinks, is linked to the rise of childhood obesity. By the time they are 14 years old, 52 percent of boys and 32 percent of girls are drinking three or more eight-ounce servings of soda a day.
- Community organizations and state and local governments can make a difference by implementing programs that promote nutrition and regular physical activity and by supporting the establishment or revision of zoning ordinances and comprehensive plans to include or enhance sidewalks, bike paths, parks and playgrounds, and other recreational facilities.
- Federal programs such as the Food Stamp Program and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children should support pilot programs to increase participants' access to nutritious foods, including fruits and vegetables.
- Health insurers and health plans should designate childhood obesity prevention as a priority health issue and should include screening and obesity prevention services in routine clinical practice. While insurers have largely focused on the treatment of obesity, the high cost of this treatment provides insurers with an incentive to prevent the condition.
- Pediatricians, family physicians, nurses, and other healthcare providers should actively discuss their patients' weight and BMI with parents and with the children themselves in a sensitive and age-appropriate manner. The report also recommends that parents seek information about their children's weight status from their healthcare providers.
The panel did not ask for extensive new regulations or restrictions, but primarily voluntary changes by all individuals and organizations involved. They did report, however, that the food and beverage industries spend $10 billion to $12 billion annually marketing directly to children and youth. The average child views more than 40,000 TV commercials each year and more than half of TV ads directed at kids promote high-calorie foods and beverages such as candy, snack foods, fast foods, soft drinks, and sweetened breakfast cereals. In addition, the entertainment industry promotes many products that encourage sedentary behaviors. |
