The health of an estimated 14.4 million U.S. children and adolescents is affected by obesity and the trend is escalating. In 1963, five percent of children and adolescents were obese—by 2018 that number had jumped to 19 percent.
“A predictive epidemiologic model estimates that if 2017 obesity trends hold, 57 percent of children aged two to 19 years will have obesity by the time they are 35 years of age, in 2050,” writes the AAP in the new guidelines.
Obesity “puts children and adolescents at risk for serious short- and long-term adverse health outcomes later in life, including cardiovascular disease, including HTN [Hypertension]; dyslipidemia [abnormally elevated cholesterol or fats in the blood]; insulin resistance; T2DM [Type 2 diabetes mellitus]; and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease,” writes the AAP.
Obese youth may also have elevated systolic blood pressure, low-density lipoprotein, lower insulin sensitivity, and “poor psychological and emotional health, increased stress, depressive symptoms, and low self-esteem.”
Opposition to Guidelines
Dr. Robert Yoho, a retired surgeon, told The Epoch Times that “bariatric surgery showed an intermediate-term death rate of about one in 250 in adults [in older studies] making it one of the riskiest procedures known.”The hard evidence for surgical care “ranges from speculative to nonexistent,” said Yoho. “The field is almost unstudied—we rely on tradition—we give surgeons near-complete therapeutic autonomy, and many of their net outcomes are in doubt.”
Dr. Bill Wilson, a family physician, and author of “Brain Drain,” told The Epoch Times, “The AAP guidelines are ill-conceived because they are clearly not science-based. If you don’t understand how to define and measure a condition [obesity], how can you possibly effectively treat it? The discussion should begin and end with solid science.”
Is Obesity a Chronic Disease?
The National Institutes of Health declared obesity a “chronic disease” in 1998 and the AAP concurs. Risk factors for the “disease” of obesity include “adverse childhood experiences,” and “weight bias and stigma considerations,” it says. “[M]ultiple influences” cause obesity including “individual and familial risk factors” and “broader structural and contextual inequities,” adds the Academy.The AAP guidelines downplay personal and parental responsibility for obesity as well as overeating. In some cases, the guidelines emphasize political elements over personal behaviors.
Bans on Drug Advertising Work
The U.S. is hardly the only industrialized country with growing obesity rates, including in children. However, other countries have taken a look at the causes before recommending surgery or diet drugs for children.Is Obesity Acceptance Part of the Problem?
Medications and surgery present unique and new risks, and while people know their food choices and activity levels are critical, some just can’t find the will to make changes.“All of a sudden, physicians are being told they can’t use the terms obese and overweight,” she said.
What About Prevention and Eating Well?
What about prevention? “This guideline does not cover the prevention of obesity, which will be addressed in a forthcoming AAP policy statement,” says the AAP.The guidelines do note, however, that “the AAP’s Bright Futures recommendations, which are based on systematic reviews and expert panels, offer prevention guidelines.”
The guidelines do link poor diet—particularly fast food—to weight gain, but claim “The association between sedentary behavior and adiposity [obesity] has been shown to range from small to inconsistent.” It is similarly ambivalent about snack foods.
“A recent systematic review of body fat and consumption of ultra-processed foods (defined as snacks, fast foods, junk foods, and convenience foods) in children and adolescents found a positive association, but noted that longer-term studies examining the association of these foods and obesity are needed.”
More Drugs For Children?
For years, many medical and mental health professionals have charged that children are being overmedicated whether for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or emotional and mood problems that are increasing youth diagnoses. Culture and lifestyle are major culprits in these afflictions, but are not addressed with the kind of money and political willpower marshaled by drug makers.Are the AAP Recommendations a Conflict of Interest?
The American Academy of Pediatrics, like many professional medical associations that influence medical practice, has drugmaker corporate sponsors. These include Johnson & Johnson (among the AAP’s “top 10 donors”) Abbott, Merck, and Novavax.If obesity is defined more as a disease arising from systemic racism or inequality rather than an affliction resulting from poor-quality food and problematic lifestyles, it could become a boon to drugmakers and alleviates Big Food of its culpability.
How Can Parents Prevent Obesity in Their Children?
Long-standing common-sense advice backed up by research urges families to emphasize healthy food and activity. Outdoor walks, biking, and eating more vegetables and whole foods, while avoiding processed foods are critical—especially because children spend so much time indoors at school.- Limit unhealthy foods served to children, including refined grains and sweets, processed meat, and sugary drinks.
- Increase the children’s physical activity.
- Limit children’s television time, screen time, and other “sit time.”
- Try to improve their sleep and reduce their stress.
- Ending tax subsidies for TV advertisements for unhealthy foods targeted at children.
- Taxing artificially sweetened beverages.
- Teaching children and parents about unhealthy beverages, and the effects of physical activity and screen time.
- Increasing physical activity in PE [physical education] classes through policy changes and teacher training.
There may be many reasons for childhood obesity but the impact of cheap high-calorie foods that are designed to be irresistible, can’t be overlooked—especially when they are the most readily available and advertised foods.
Nor can we ignore the fact that some of the most valuable and profitable companies are investing heavily in technology, including artificial intelligence, to better grab our attention and keep us clicking, scrolling, watching, sitting—and getting fat.