posted 01/09/03
By Margaret Ramirez, Staff Writer
A new citywide hospital plan to tackle obesity could be a good start, but
several pediatricians said the epidemic is more complicated, connected to school
lunches, overcrowded housing, and a severe shortage of playgrounds.
Dr. Holly Schachner, a pediatric endocrinologist and assistant director of the
Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center at Columbia Presbyterian Center, said obesity among
children in New York has steadily increased over the past decade and led to a
frightening rise in the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.
Over the past two years, Schachner said 50 percent of her patients under 18 have
been newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, a condition that usually strikes
adults over age 40.
"We need for obesity to be recognized as a serious disease that needs treatment.
That treatment includes medication, nutritional education, and more physical
activity," Schachner said.
Childhood obesity has emerged as the nation's modern-day epidemic often leading
to diseases such as diabetes, asthma, as well as heart and liver disease.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, about 15 percent of children
between the ages of 6 to 19 are overweight. That translates to about 9 million
overweight and obese children.
Earlier this week, at a San Diego conference on childhood obesity, U.S. Surgeon
General Dr. Richard Carmona, called obesity the "fastest-growing cause of
illness and death in the United States."
Dr. Irwin Redlener, president and co-founder of The Children's Health Fund said
many are unaware that overweight children can be at risk for developing
diabetes. The fund, in partnership with Bristol-Myers Squibb, has developed a
new program to combat obesity in the South Bronx.
"The disease disproportionately affects children in poor communities, where
obesity rates are high, and access to fresh fruits and vegetables and a safe
environment to play are limited," Redlener said.
Schachner said her staff at Columbia Presbyterian is doing more outreach,
specifically in Washington Heights public schools to educate students and
parents about nutrition and exercise.
"Here, there are a lot of kids who don't have lunch period or a gym period. So,
they end up grabbing a can of soda and cookies for lunch, and then just sit
around in class. If a child drinks one 8-oz. can of soda, every day, they gain
10 pounds by the end of the year," she said.
Source: Newsday Dot Com.
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