Jun

10

Childhood Obesity News - Childhood obesity - Daily Press

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There’s a “glimmer of hope” in the recent findings of researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that the childhood obesity epidemic may be leveling off. But even if the incidence doesn’t rise further, it leaves us with a huge public health problem in the making, for it still means that one in three children is overweight. Health officials warn that if we don’t get serious about confronting that problem, the toll it will take — in heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, orthopedic problems — will be enormous. The public will pay — in the tax bill for Medicaid (because the incidence of obesity is highest among the poor) and for government workers’ health insurance and in their own insurance premiums. But until that talk is followed up with real action, to help overweight kids trim down and prevent others from starting down that path, we won’t make a dent in the problem. Jones Middle School in Hampton is showing the way, with a program that replaces the old calisthenics-and-kickballs routine with a revved-up cardio workout, with lots of kid appeal. Read Childhood Obesity

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