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CONGRESSIONAL STAFF BRIEFED ON OBESITY EPIDEMIC
Cuts in physical education
classes and extra sodas are just some of the reasons why U.S. children
are becoming more overweight, a trio of researchers told congressional
staffers at a Capitol Hill briefing on March 21. Nearly 30 percent of children ages 6-11 were either overweight or obese in 2000, and the percentage continues to climb, said Barry Popkin, Ph.D., of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Changes in eating habits over the last decade have contributed to this increase, he said. Children and adults are eating more meals away from home, larger portions and more calorie-dense snacks. “With these larger meals and more snacks, children are eating an average of an extra half-meal a day,” he said. Between 1977 and 1996, children and adults boosted their daily sugar intake by 83 calories, mostly in the form of corn syrup added to soft drinks and fruit juice. Popkin said this trend is due in part to agricultural subsidies that have made corn products more profitable to produce, and in part to pouring contracts, which allow certain soft drink brands exclusive selling rights on school campuses. Schools have become more sedentary places as well. Children in schools without physical education programs could double their amount of weekly physical activity if P.E. were added to their school day again, Popkin said. Researchers are still identifying the best interventions for preventing and treating obesity, according to Sally Davis, Ph.D., of the University of New Mexico. “The science of what we know about preventing obesity is very new and therefore very limited,” Davis said. Although the researchers did discuss the latest medications and surgical therapies for obesity, they stressed that prevention efforts will be more important to building better public health. “We are simply not going to treat this epidemic away,” said Tom Wadden, Ph.D., of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. The congressional briefing was sponsored by the Consortium of Social Science Associations.
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