Oh dear, this clip from “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution” clearly demonstrates the urgency we need to place around health and food education for youth. These kids can’t recognize a tomato from a potato, yet can all spot ketchup and fries. Hopefully between this show (airing on basic cable for the masses to watch, thanks to ABC) and Michelle Obama’s campaign to fight obesity, the nation will become better aware of our food system and personal health. Jamie Oliver’s series starts March 26th, for more information see the ABC website.
We are eating (and couch-potatoing) ourselves into crises. The more stats like this that I see, the more Wall-E re-enters my mind. We as adults have to set the appropriate expectations for nutrition and exercise. And then, it’d be really nice if more of us modeled those expectations in healthy and appropriate ways. This isn’t brain surgery folks. Get outside and move! And, as Michael Pollan might say: “If grandma has never heard of the ingredients, don’t eat it.”
The number of hospitalizations of kids and teens, ages 2 to 19, with a primary or secondary diagnosis of obesity nearly doubled between 1999 and 2005, climbing from 21,743 to 42,429, according to a study published Thursday on the Health Affairs website.
These were stays for obesity-related conditions such as asthma, diabetes, gallbladder disease, pneumonia, skin infections, pregnancy complications, depression and other mental disorders.