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It’s crept up and launched a sneak attack on some of this country’s mostvaluable assets. Childhood obesity is a power-ful enemy that threatens millions of innocent vic-tims — our children. According to the Centers forDisease Control and Prevention (CDC), one outof every three children is overweight.An even more sobering statistic is the 16% — over 9million — of children aged 6-19 years old in thiscountry that are obese. Over the past 30 years, thechildhood obesity rate has more than doubled for

both preschool children and adolescents. And it’sworse for kids 6-11-years-old. Their rate of obesityhas more than tripled.

Unfortunately, Colorado is not immune.While our state continues to be ranked by the CDCas the leanest state for adults, the rankings are muchdifferent for Colorado’s children. In 2003, In 2003,nearly 10% of our children were overweight. Justfour years later, 14.2% of Colorado

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children were overweight. As a result, Coloradoranks 23 out of the 50 states in terms of over-weight children.

The Casualties of Childhood ObesityWith obesity comes a myriad of serious healthproblems such as diabetes and heart disease. Cur-rently, our country spends $150 billion a year to treatobesity-related illnesses, and that figure is rapidly ris-ing. Obesity also claims the lives of more than 300,000children every year. Overweight children are at higherrisk of developing serious physical and mental healthconditions that create lifelong problems including:

� Type 2 diabetes� Hypertension (high blood pressure)� Elevated cholesterol levels� Sleep Apnea (interruption of breath while sleeping) � Liver diseases, orthopedic problems and asthma� Depression, low self-esteem and bullying

Unless we combat childhood obesity now, our chil-dren’s lives will be much shorter — and unhealthier —than our own.

A Full Scale Attack“There have been a lot of individual efforts tocontrol childhood obesity, but none of themhave been very successful,” says Dr. Reggie Washington,

Chief Medical Officer at Rocky Mountain Hospital forChildren and a nationally recognized expert in thefield of childhood obesity.

“One example was just taking soft drinks out ofschool vending machines. Even though the inten-tions were good, it was determined a year later thatthis effort had little effect on overweight children.”Dr. Washington explains, “It’s important to realizethat obesity is caused by many different things — alack of physical education time in schools, increasedcomputer and TV time, larger portion sizes andmore homework, cell phone and texting usage.

In order to combatthis disease, we mustaddress all of thesefactors with equaldiligence and vigor.”

In this example changing the items offered in vend-ing machines would have a greater benefit if the effortwas coupled with increased PE in schools.

A United FrontAccording to Dr. Washington, it’s critical that everyonegets involved in attacking the issue of childhood obesity,on all levels, starting now. The piece-meal approachsimply won’t work to address a problem of this mag-nitude. In order to affect change, childhood obesitymust be addressed by individuals and families, byhealth professionals, by school systems and bythe government. Our war on obesitymust begin with early and contin-ual prevention strategies.

Dr. Reginald Washington,a Colorado Springs native, has practiced pediatric cardiology in Denver for morethan 25 years. An expert in pediatric obesity, he serves on several national committees, including the AmericanMedical and the American Academy of Pediatrics. He is a former two-term member of the national board of theAmerican Heart Association and a recipient of the AHA’s Physician of the Year award. With countless medicalpresentations, publications and position statements through the American Academy of Pediatrics, Dr. Washingtonhas and continues to make an indelible mark on improving the heath and fitness of America’s children.

Take ActionFirst Lady Michelle Obama recently announcedthe “Let’s Move” initiative, “I have set a goal to solve theproblem of childhood obesity within a generation sothat children born today will reach adulthood at ahealthy weight.”

“Let’s Move” focuses on four strategies:

� Informing parents about nutrition and exercise� Improving the quality of food in schools � Making healthy foods more affordable and

accessible for families � Focusing more on physical education

“Let’s Move” is a comprehensive,collaborative and community-oriented approach that providespromise, hope and awareness.The change must begin at homeand continue 24/7.

Here’s a quick way to get your family started:

� Set a good example, first and foremost.

� Keep moving! Your family activities should in-volve physical exercise whenever possible. Thinkbeyond traditional exercise and try gardening,washing the car, playing in the yard or bowlingwith the family. Choose activities that are easyand that your child will enjoy.

� Eat a healthy breakfast. People who skippedbreakfast are more than four times more likely tobe obese than those who ate breakfast daily.*

� Dine together at the table. Never dine in frontof television.

� Do NOT put your child on a calorie-restricted diet and never consider food as a punishment or a reward. Food is important for

energy, growth and development ofchild — not as a bargaining tool.

� Get your children involved.They can learn important nutritionlessons while having fun helping withgrocery shopping and meal planning.

� Always keep nutritioussnacks handy. Low-fat cheese,fruits and vegetables (fresh,frozen or canned), frozen fruitjuice bars, yogurt or low-fat ice cream,vanilla wafers, graham crackers, fig bars and ginger-snaps are tasty alternatives to high-fat junk food.

� Alter eating habits and activities gradu-ally. Once developed, these habits will help yourchild to maintain good health throughout his/herlifetime.

� Include five fruits and vegetables daily.They’re easy to add into meals and snacks.

� Limit television and video games. Screentime should be limited to less than two hours a day.

� Cut back on unhealthy choices. Limitsugar-sweetened drinks, fast food, takeout foodand eating out. You can make better food choicesat home and save money, too.

*according to American Journal of Epidemiology

Want to share your own tips for healthyeating and more exercise for your children? Visit www.rockymontainhospitalforchildren.com withyour suggestions, and we will post your ideas for otherparents to read. For more information about “Let’sMove,” visit www.letsmove.gov.

For more information on parenting, health tips and more, please visit www.RockyMountainHospitalForChildren.com or ParentsPages.com.

Physician Resources Guide Physician Referral Line: 1-877-752-2737 pslmc.com

Reginald L. Washington, MDFAAP, FACC, FAHAChief Medical Offi cer303-839-6100

Jack HT Chang, MDPediatric Physician Liaison303-839-6100

Adolescent MedicineChristine Gilroy, MD 303-869-2160Richard Miranda, MD 303-869-2160

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