CORRECTION CO 15 Childhood obesity

Hectic lifestyles and the wonders of computer technology are here to stay. Fitting a decent meal into our schedule may seem impossible, so can making room for fresh air and exercise. Such trends can spell big trouble especially for the very young. An era of fast food and video games has spawned a new generation of overweight kids, whose play and eating habits are altogether different than the youngsters of bygone days. “It used to be that kids maybe had one soda every week or every two weeks and now they’re having up to two sodas a day, and it’s just too much.” Doctor Chris Madson is with the weight clinic at UCSF Medical Center, and points out that 15% of kids today are considered overweight or obese. But it jumps to 30% among poor families who can’t afford fresh produce or can’t get to a large supermarket that offers it. Much of the weight problem can be explained by simple inactivity. “They’re not necessarily walking to school, they don’t have Physical Education to the extent that they used to, and they’re watching more television.” TV not only keeps kids on the couch, it can lead to a bad diet. “The problem is that what kids see on television is almost all junk food, in fact there’s almost no nutritional food that’s advertised on TV.” She says kids often spend a great deal of time in the care of a grandparent or other relative. “And of course they want to feed our grandchildren and our nieces and our nephews. You’re putting these children at increased risk for medical illnesses that are significant like diabetes and high blood pressure.”