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The children of today are those minds that will be soon powering the human experience.
Clearly, this population is of great value and hosts an amazing potential to shape the
human experience for the better, but their power for such change is matched evenly with
habitual stagnation.
Food consciousness is on a decline, and opposing it death due to health related illness is
on the rise. The lack of activity and food awareness is creating sluggish, uninformed
youth with expanding waistlines. The obesity epidemic has quickly become a high priority
health problem in the United States. It is currently the second highest cause of death
due to preventable disease, close behind tobacco use.
A major cause? High carbohydrate diets.
Children need to reduce diets high in carbohydrate, because they are a major cause of obesity,
where diets that cause obesity increase the risk for cardiometobolic disorders, psychological
distress, and the development of an unhealthy lifestyle.
The use of carbohydrate dense sweeteners increased by 86% between 1909 and 1997, and the type
of sweeteners used also changed dramatically. Corn syrup sweeteners, nonexistent at the
beginning of the century now represent more than 48% of the US sweetener market; for the
general consumer they account for over 20% of the total daily carbohydrate intake and
10% of the daily total caloric intake, an increase of more than 2000%.
Recent National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data suggest that adolescents are by
far the highest fructose consumers, consuming over 70 grams per day (which is about 12%
of their total calories); and more than 20% of adolescents consume more than 25% of their
total calories as fructose".
Between 1980 and 1997 an increase in carbohydrate consumption from 48% to 54% of total energy
intake increased the prevalence of obesity by 80%.
The issue here is not the particular sugars and their qualities; it's their sheer volume
of consumption. As a society we eat way past the daily-recommended amount, indulging for
example in several sugary drinks day, five or six cookies, or a mound of pancakes for
breakfast.
All of that extra energy has to go somewhere, and children certainly aren't balancing the
higher energy intake with exercise.
Childhood obesity is a multisystem disease with devastating consequences. Studies show
that for young men, chronic high volume consumption of sugary drinks increases cardiovascular
risk markers, and that only 3 weeks of moderate consumption is sufficient to show escalated
risk markers. Overweight children show increased risk for: premature illness, diabetes, heart
disease, arteriosclerosis, high blood pressure, elevated fat in the blood, chronic inflammation,
blood clotting tendency, heart attack, and stroke. The morbidity of our children skyrockets
as they get obese. All of these potential risks add up to a sedentary, immobile lifestyle,
a decreased quality of life, and a much shorter lifespan.
Alongside the physical health, mental health is also poor among obese children, where on
average overweight children have lower self-esteem and as a result, are more at risk of participating
in high risk activates including smoking and alcohol consumption. Studies overwhelmingly
conclude that obesity has adverse effects on the psychological health of our children.
Finally, obesity, like many habitual problems is hard to resolve whether old or young and
obese children easily mature into obese adults. This lifestyle poses a threat that goes beyond
the damage done to the body. The costs associated with the obesity epidemic pose interesting
questions. Rates of obesity increased 2-3 times over the course of 25 years in America
from 1971 to 1999 (Ebbeling, et al. 473), what are the next 25 to 50 years going to
look like?
Currently a whole third of the U.S. population suffers from an obese lifestyle, and 60% of
Americans in the U.S. are overweight. The future is bleak; figures suggest that by 2022,
80% of Americans will be overweight or obese (***, 2329). And the total estimated cost
related to obese and overweight Americans doubles every decade, topping out around 956.9
billion US dollars by 2030 (that's almost a trillion), and accounts for 18% of the total
US health-care costs. (***, 2329)
This future is not sustainable, acceptable, or defendable. We need to educate the young
people of America; this is a future we can avoid. Reduce the amount of sugar you consume,
increase your knowledge of the risks associated with poor eating habits.
If nothing else. Do it for the children.