Childhood Obesity is a growing concern in the Nation and in northwest Missouri those statistics are worse.
Doctor Jane Schwabe with Mosaic Life Care said it’s estimated that nationally, 2/3rds of children are overweight and 1/3rd are clinically obese. Dr. Schwabe said statistics from the St. Joseph School District show those statistics are worse.
“2/3rds of our students are overweight, and probably more in the 40-percent range hit the obese category,” Dr. Schwabe said. “Our statistics are actually worse than the national average, not just among kids but among adults. We have a fairly unhealthy population here in northwest Missouri so we’re trying to start on all sorts of fronts as far as education to raise awareness so we can hopefully reverse the trend.”
She said the biggest concern she has is that a report released earlier this year by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention shows that for the first time ever kids that are 10 and younger are predicted to live less long than their parents.
“Since the United States started each generation successively lived longer than the preceding generation as antibiotics came in and different things we were living longer and longer until now,” Dr. Schwabe said. “It seems to be largely due to lifestyle related things and obesity is one of those things we used to not see in children. We would see it in adults as we got more sedentary as we got older but now we’re seeing a group of kids that are being raised that are relatively inactive compared to kids 30-years-ago.”
September is National Childhood Obesity month. In-light of that, Mosaic is trying to raise awareness to the issued surrounding obesity.
Schwabe said more than seven years ago Mosaic Life Care began the 4th Grade Challenge, a program to teach 4th graders about the importance of proper nutrition, adequate exercise and healthy habits such as being smoke free. She said statistics have shown that when children reach 4th grade, they begin to make choices and adopt habits that will last their entire lives.