Does Childhood Obesity Equal Neglect?

In a world where every minute of the day is jam-packed with rushing from home to school and school to work and work to school and school to extracurricular activities, it is no wonder that parents are feeling the squeeze of where a lot of us are failing.  Our children's diets are suffering in a tremendous way which leads to things we would never wish on our children:  diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, bone and joint problems, social and psychological problems, and poor self-esteem.  Today, childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years according to the Journal of the American Medical Association and the National Center for Health Statistics.

There are immediate and long-term health effects.  Long-term effects are things like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, cancer, and osteoarthritis.  One study called the Bogalusa Heart Study showed that children who became obese as early as age 2 were more likely to be obese as adults.

In Britain, news was just released claiming that parents of an obese child were arrested for neglect.  Has this gone too far?  

If we spend our days putting priority on "getting somewhere" and not what goes into our bodies, we are missing a vital part of what we should prioritize.  Health.  

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” - Hippocrates

Should a parent be responsible for training up a child on how to be healthy?  Absolutely!  But, where we fail as a society, in America at least, is that our culture is driven around maximizing every second for work and productivity and not health.  We rush about to and fro and forget about healthy foods.  It takes too long to prepare.  McDonald's is so much faster.  Drive-thrus are so much faster.  Our hospital cafeterias are filled with the same foods that would send a patient to the cath lab over time due to the high cholesterol and high fat/sugar.  We have a society problem more than a parenting problem though the children suffering with obesity is a big symptom.

The Obesity Epidemic in America

I am amazed daily when I am working at the hospital at the correlation between heavy weight or obesity and chronic illness.  Home medication rec sheets reach pages and pages with blood pressure medications, statins for high cholesterol, diuretics, and the list goes on. (Even sadder is the hospital cafeteria, but I have yet to dine in a hospital cafeteria and find healthy food which is odd to me)

Today, I was in Costco where I observed a couple of obese customers in electronic wheelchairs buying their food...  IN BULK.  We then went to Sonic (I know) and instead of ordering a Route 44 which can hold the contents of a person's daily urine output with normal renal function (seriously) I ordered a medium.

Guess what?  The medium was what x-large was years ago.

The stats:

• More than one-third of Americans are obese (> 30 BMI).  Another third are overweight.  Combined this means that almost 70% of the US are either obese are overweight.
• 16% of children and teens are obese
• Obesity-related conditions include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer, some of the leading causes of preventable death
• Medical costs associated with obesity were $147 billion in 2008
• There was a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States from 1990 through 2010
• The average size of a bagel doubled in size from 1983 to today.  Three-inch diameter with 140 calories to 6-inch diameter at 350 calories.  Super-size me please.
• One in three children born today will be diagnosed with diabetes in their lifetimes

So why lose the weight this 2013 and make this the year of change?

• Obese workers are less likely to be promoted
• Obesity related healthcare costs will take more money out of your pocket
• Obesity mortality rates are surpassing smoking-related deaths

Coke Kills Ya'll

A New Zealand inquest has been told a woman's over 2 gallon a day Coca-Cola habit may have contributed to her death, reports said Friday.

A coroner's inquest was told Natasha Harris, a 30-year-old mother of eight from Invercargill in southern New Zealand who died in February 2010, drank huge amounts of the caffeinated beverage, Fairfax Media reported.

It said pathologist Dan Mornin told the inquest that he believed Harris died from cardiac arrhythmia and was also suffering from low potassium levels and caffeine toxicity.

Mornin testified her excessive soft drink consumption probably contributed to her medical condition, along with poor nutrition, Fairfax reported.

Coca-Cola - the real story behind the real thing

Crazy uses for Coca-Cola

Have a Diet Coke addiction?

I can spot a Diet Coke addict from across the room. At the first sip of one freshly poured or popped, there's a barely perceptible sigh and slump; their itch has been scratched. (from Eatocracy)

And yes... Diet Cokes Can Make You Fat

Vegetarian Atkins... Are You Serious?

If the plain Atkins diet weren't disgusting enough with what I call a greasy tongue from all the butter, meats, fats, etc... now there is something called a vegetarian version that lowers heart risks. Can you think of any other diet you'd rather do? (Pun intended) A small, month-long study of the so-called Eco-Atkins diet, which stresses plant proteins, worked better than a high-carb diet at reducing levels of low-density lipoprotein or LDL, which raises the risks of heart attacks and strokes.