America needs a wake up call. The modern sedentary lifestyle and diet has produced a childhood obesity epidemic that is reducing life span and quality of life. Experts say life expectancy in the U.S. could drop an average of two to five years because of childhood obesity; the first drop since the civil war. Increasing numbers of obese children are being diagnosed with 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, bad cholesterol and other obesity complications that were seldom seen in children before. And it gets worse, obesity is projected to cause more deaths by mid-century, than all cancers combined.
"For the first time in history, life expectancy may be shorter for our children than their parents" according to Dr. Sarah Barlow, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine and author of new recommendations from an expert committee on the prevention, assessment and treatment of childhood obesity. "Childhood obesity in this country has skyrocketed to 1 in 4 children being overweight or obese. As a result, weight related type 2 diabetes and other conditions, previously considered to be adult problems, are now emerging in children."
This prediction was reinforced by a recent study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, which linked obese children ages 7 to 13 to the development of heart disease in adulthood. According to Dr. David Ludwig (see below), "It's one thing for an obese 45 year old to develop type 2 diabetes at age 55 and then have a heart attack at the age of 65. It's a very different thing for the clock to start ticking at age 10." Dr. Ludwig is currently using SoLo Gi® Low Glycemic Nutrition Bars in a Low GI study at the Children’s Hospital Boston with a focus on gestational diabetes and preventing a predisposition to obesity and diabetes early in life.
The good news is that parents can prevent their children from becoming a statistic. Dr. Barlow continued, "We need to look for new ways to reach out to parents and healthcare professionals to teach lifestyle changes and counseling techniques." Insulin resistance which is a primary culprit can be reversed with simple lifestyle changes and better dietary choices.
Bottom line is that not only children but all generations can live optimally and enjoy a long healthy life expectancy if we work with the body’s design and give it what it needs to work optimally; more physical activity and low GI foods that don’t spike blood sugar, is a really good start!
David Ludwig, M.D., Ph.D. Endocrinologist at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Optimal Weight for Life Program, Children’s Hospital Boston. Author of Ending the Food Fight, Guide Your Child to a Healthy Weight in a Fast Food / Fake Food World (2007) "Dr. Ludwig pioneered the use of a Low Glycemic Diet in Combating Obesity."
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