WASHINGTON STATE

Washington State House Democrats

HOUSE DEMOCRATS

Out with the sugar, in with the spinach!

As Washington’s little ones head back to classroom, and the inevitably the lunchroom, fall is a good times to talk about fighting one of the toughest epidemics in our country – childhood obesity.

So a child is overweight — why should we care?

Photo Credit, freedigitalphotos.net, Clare Bloomfield
Photo Credit, freedigitalphotos.net, Clare Bloomfield

To start with, overweight children are more than 5 times as likely to be obese adults. And we know that leads to a multitude of problems for families whose loved ones die early, our economy through lost productivity and our healthcare system with skyrocketing rates of heart disease and diabetes which come with a $245 billion annual price tag.

That means childhood obesity is everyone’s problem.

One way we can help is encouraging our youngest citizens to eat more produce and less junk food. This means children need to understand healthy eating habits and have access to healthy foods.

A national program, “Let’s Move Salad Bars into Schools” aims to bring fruits and vegetables into schools across our country. The healthy decisions children learn to make in school will extend outside of school as well. Another initiative, the Farm to School Network, connects schools with local farms. Students learn about the importance of community, being healthy, and eating nutritious, locally grown food – Washington has 290 schools involved!

In New York City, a new program has doctors writing prescriptions for fruits and vegetables. That’s right, instead of pills – parsnips. A child receives $1/day for each member of his or her family to purchase fruits and vegetables and tips for how to cook them. Doctors say that it’s not enough to tell patients how to eat better, you have to show them too! So far, just under 40% of the participants are losing weight within the first year.

Our nation is starting down the right track. According to a recent study done by the CDC, nation childhood obesity rates are on a slight decline; and Washington was one of the 19 states whose rate of childhood obesity declined. But a 1% drop is not a victory. 1 in 8 preschoolers is still obese. Our fight is far from over.