Expert Commentary: Dr. Elliot Goodman, MD April 22, 2009
The latest study reported at the American Heart Association's Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention annual conference confirms what we are seeing all around us - our children are getting fatter. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tells us that 24 percent of American children aged two to five are overweight and an additional 12 percent are obese. 33 percent of children 6 to 11 are overweight, and another 17 percent are obese.
As a bariatric surgeon, I am the doctor of last resort. Everyday I see the calamitous result of what being overweight does to people's lives. It affects almost every aspect of a person's health, increasing the risk of an entire spectrum of potential diseases, including heart disease, cancer, diabetes. Each disease in its turn has devastating effects. Being overweight affects sex dive, longevity, and even how much you enjoy food.
Okay, we all know the story. Excess weight is bad for us. We hear it so much that for many it's just background noise. I think its time we have to look the issue of being overweight in a different light. What kind of legacy do we want to leave our children. Just as there is a rising consciousness about ecology - not leaving future generations a dying planet because of our poor ecological management, or straddling our children with insurmountable national debt, I think its time that we think about not leaving our children the legacy of being overweight. As more and more people become overweight it is a tremendous dramatic drag on the entire healthcare system. The increasing cost to the healthcare system associated with the morbidity of obesity is simply unsustainable. If the numbers continue to rise of people who are overweight, and if a significant portion of these people eventually develop heart disease or diabetes, we will bankrupt the healthcare system.
Simply said, children do not become overweight on their own. Previously generations of children were naturally slim - plenty of physical activity versus caloric intake. It's our responsibility as parents, as guardians of future generations, to take weight loss seriously. If not for us, then for our children.
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