1. Childhood Obesity
Helping our kids lead healthy lives
www.treeswing.org
IS MY CHILD OBESE?
Children and youth between the ages of 2 and 18 are considered obese if they have body-mass
indexes (BMIs) equal to, or greater than, the 95th percentile of the age- and sex-specific BMI
charts developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP).
A GROWING EPIDEMIC
 The world now has more overweight people than starving people
 Obesity may soon top smoking as the most preventable cause of death
 One-third of U.S. children—about 25 million kids and teens—are overweight or at risk
of becoming overweight
 In the past 20 years, the prevalence of overweight among children aged 6 to 11 more
than doubled, from 7% to 18.8%
 The rate among children aged 12 to 19 more than tripled, from 5% to 17.1%
 In a national children’s health poll, 40 percent of parents with obese children ages 6 to
11 say their kids are "about the right weight"
 40% of African-American and Mexican-American children ages 6-19 are overweight or
at risk for being overweight
COUCH-POTATO KIDS
 Children spend an average of at least one hour each day in cars, yet only half of them
engage in regular, vigorous physical activity
 Only about one-third of children who live within a mile of their school walk or bike there—
compared to 70 percent of their parents who walked or biked to school
 Almost 1 in 4 children do not participate in any free-time physical activity
 Teenagers spend only 12.6 minutes a day in vigorous activity
 Non-school related use of media among 8-18 year-olds totals 8.5 hours a day
 A preschooler’s risk for obesity increases by 6% for every hour of TV watched daily;
if there’s a TV in the child’s bedroom, the odds jump to 37% for every hour watched
ECONOMIC IMPACTS
 400,000 deaths are associated with obesity each year in the U.S.A.
 Costs related to obesity top $117 billion annually in the U.S.A.
 In Washington State, medical costs due to physical inactivity were expected to total
$9 billion by the end of 2007
 Treating a child with obesity is three times costlier than treating the average child
(Over)

2. FAILING GRADE FOR SCHOOLS
 Nearly one-third of elementary schools do not schedule recess on a regular basis
 Only 8% of elementary schools, 6.4% of middle- and junior-high schools, and 5.8% of
senior-high schools provide daily physical education during the school year
HEALTH IMPACTS
 For the first time in history, the life expectancy of children in this generation is
expected to be lower than their parents
 Obese children between the ages of 10 and 13 have an 80% chance of becoming obese
adults 80 percent of overweight children grow up to be overweight adults
 Obese children are 5.5 times more likely to have an impaired quality of life—on par
with kids undergoing chemotherapy for cancer
 Obese children have increased risks of suffering:
Diabetes Sleep apnea
Metabolic syndrome Impaired balance
Osteoarthritis Orthopedic problems
Cancer Discrimination
Cardiovascular disease Social marginalization
Fatty liver disease Low self-esteem
Gallbladder disease Negative body image
Hypertension Depression
CONTRIBUTING CAUSES
 Urban and suburban designs that discourage walking and other physical activities
 Decreased opportunities for physical activity at and after school, and reduced walking
or biking to and from school
 Competition for leisure time, once spent playing outdoors, from sedentary activities
such as watching television or playing computer and video games
 Children exposed to billions of dollars worth of food advertising and cross-promotional
marketing year after year, starting at the very youngest ages, with children’s favorite
media characters often enlisted in the sales pitch
 Reduced access and affordability in some communities to fruits, vegetables, and other
nutritious foods
 Pressures on families to minimize food costs, acquisition and preparation time, resulting
in frequent consumption of convenience foods high in calories and fat