Children's International Obesity Foundation sees too many financial benefits going to interests which keep children fat.
New York, New York September 18, 2008 -- According to the CHILDREN'S INTERNATIONAL OBESITY FOUNDATION (CIOF), an acknowledged authority and voice regarding childhood obesity, the short-term financial benefits and incentives for fattening up children are making childhood obesity into a profit opportunity for too many, and at the ultimate expense of children's lives.
Douglas Castle, speaking for CIOF, said, "It is acknowledged by every major healthcare agency and authority in the United States and throughout the world that obesity is the greatest threat facing our children today. The obesity epidemic is the gravest threat to kids' health that we know, and a whole generation's very survival is threatened by it.
The public is being deceived and misled into believing that their funds are going toward saving kids. Meanwhile, these groups are getting richer and more powerful, and CIOF has to work even harder to get its essential humanitarian work done.We have to stay alive so that we can fight to keep children alive. The economic deck is stacked against legitimate efforts at getting youngsters from fat to fit. Our awareness, education, prediction and prevention programs need even greater resources to fight the efforts of these wolves in sheep's clothing.
"No one argues that more than one in every three children is dangerously overweight or obese. No one disputes that complications from childhood overweight are, by far, the greatest single cause of death amongst our youngsters. And it is well established that this generation of children is the first in recorded history to have a shorter life expectancy than their own parents. CIOF has been shouting this.
"The obvious question is, 'if we, as a decent society know this, why aren't we doing something to reverse the epidemic?'
"The answer is chilling," said Castle. "Too many companies, agencies and even foundations are simply making too much money by keeping kids fat. The snack food and beverage giants, the pharmaceutical companies, the pop-psychologists, the clothing manufacturers, the fad diet pundits -- even some unscrupulous healthcare providers and foundations which are actually just puppets for these same special interest groups are getting richer and richer by feeding off of this epidemic.
"These groups are either oblivious to the future of humankind, or they are engorged leeches, without any conscience. They are trading children's lives for profits and cash flow. Until there is anincentive for these profiteers to behave differently, and until they are revealed for who they really are, they will continue to confound every sincere effort to stop this killer," warned Castle.
Robert Hinnen, CIOF's Executive Director, said, "Too much money is going to these profiteers and political interests -- and not nearly enough is going to organizations like CIOF, where our agenda is completely transparent and our mission is to predict, prevent and treat obesity; in that order.
"We recently launched our September awareness and fund raising campaign to help stop the obesity epidemic, and we are competing for every single dollar with these 'so called' charities and other groups which are actually controlled by the same interests that push the products which make children fat and keep them even fatter.
"Yes, the economy is very shaky right now, but can we allow this to dictate the quality of health for our children?
"Donations are desperately needed now more than ever...We fully understand that people want to know where their money is going, especially now with what we all just witnessed with Lehman, Merrill, AIG and everyone impacted by the catastrophic changes on Wall Street...but the difference here is we don't have the option to have the Federal Reserve send 'lifeboats' for our kids, instead, CIOF has to fight for even a small fraction of the funds which actually go toward the promotion of obesity.
"My observation is that sadly very few of us realize how much harm is being done...These other players are re-routing dollars right back into the power source that is making our children sick with cardiac problems, diabetes, respiratory failure, kidney and liver diseases and even cancer.
"The public is being deceived and misled into believing that their funds are going toward saving kids. Meanwhile, these groups are getting richer and more powerful, and CIOF has to work even harder to get its essential humanitarian work done."
Hinnen continued, "We have to stay alive so that we can fight to keep children alive. The economic deck is stacked against legitimate efforts at getting youngsters from fat to fit. Our awareness, education, prediction and prevention programs need even greater resources to fight the efforts of these wolves in sheep's clothing."
To make a tax deductible gift to CIOF, visit www.ciofoundation.org and donate. You can donate by mail, or directly online, through a secured portal on the website. CIOF is funded almost entirely bycontributions from individuals and small organizations.
ABOUT CHILDREN'S INTERNATIONAL OBESITY FOUNDATION (CIOF) CIOF is an approved IRS Section 501(c)(3)not-for-profit public foundation and charity whose international mission it is to eliminate dangerous overweight and obesity in children and teens through prediction, prevention, support and treatment. Each year, health complications caused by overweight and obesity in children and teens are responsible for a steadily increasing mortality statistic. CIOF notes that this is the first generation of children in the United States Of America who are not expected to live as long as their parents. To learn more about this problem and what you can do to help, visit www.ciofoundation.org
Showing posts with label Childhood Obesity The Educational Cost. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Childhood Obesity The Educational Cost. Show all posts
Childhood Obesity: The Educational Cost
A Message from Phil Lawler - PE4Life
Many people argue that childhood obesity is not a school issue and it is not the responsibility of the school to be concerned about children’s health. Schools are designed to teach reading, math, science, English, now foreign language, and history. No Child Left Behind as made sure core academics remains the focus of American Schools.
These same people argue children’s health is totally the parent’s responsibility. I agree the responsibility of the health of children starts with the parents but childhood obesity is becoming a serious problem for society and it is quite obvious the solution will not come from pointing fingers at parents. Many parents struggle with their own weight problems and are not equipped to be role models for their children.
Anyone who believes solving the childhood obesity problem is not the schools responsibility needs to read this article – the health of children is a school issue if we want it to be or not – children’s health has many more far reaching negative impacts on education than we realize.
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Childhood Obesity: The Educational Cost Kara Rogers - September 15th, 2008
Poor childhood health has life-long impacts, with devastating affects on a child’s education and future socioeconomic status. Childhood obesity is especially paralyzing. Research has shown that once a child has become obese, he or she struggles simply to pursue an education. If the current childhood obesity trend in the United States continues, by 2050, at least half the population will be obese and could very possibly be less educated than the overall population today.
This is a scary proposition, and social scientists, psychologists, and nutritionists are digging to find the root causes of and solutions to childhood obesity. Interrelated factors affecting childhood obesity include home life, demographics, and resources, such as access to high-quality healthcare and education. Perhaps the most influential of these factors is resources or, more precisely, a lack thereof. Lack of or lack of access to resources narrows choices and limits people to cheap, often unhealthy foods, to forgo health insurance, and to attend schools that provide a only a low-quality education.
Low-quality education has severe consequences. Children who receive a poor education as they pass through the educational prime of their lives are left unprepared, without the skills they need to reach their potentials, are intellectually depressed, and are susceptible to poor health. Children in poor health, who are obese, are abundant in the United States. Nearly one-fifth of U.S. children ages 2 to 19 are obese, and recent estimates in schoolchildren indicate the obesity rate is as high as one-third in some rural areas. Sadly, many of these children probably become obese before they understand what obesity is or have even heard the word obesity.
With education, children and adults are knowledgeable about their health and confident in their physical and mental abilities. These factors play an important role in diverting people away from obesity. But the relationship between health and education is not simply that educated people are healthy and uneducated people are unhealthy. There exists a clearly defined education-health gradient that is very simple to understand—the better educated we are, the healthier we are, and the less likely we are to become obese. This means that high-quality education and college education are especially important in relation to overall health, and more individuals with good health means a healthier society overall.
Childhood obesity can be addressed in multiple ways, though it relies heavily on resolving major problems relating to our educational system, our access to healthcare, and poverty. These issues require government action that promotes equal opportunities for children and families, regardless of demographics. However, working in direct opposition to equal opportunity education is the privatization of education. Privatization essentially puts children in direct academic competition with one another and does not acknowledge the reality that most children in the United States begin this competition with a grave disadvantage, in that they lack basic access to quality education.
Indicative of the competitive atmosphere plaguing U.S. education, in an effort to focus on and improve academic performance, many schools dropped recesses and physical education classes. This sent a strong, negative message to children and parents: physical health does not matter. PE classes were construed as a waste of time and money, despite scientific evidence that physical activity can improve brain function in children, in turn, improving academic performance.
If children and adults cannot read and understand nutrition labels on the foods and beverages they consume, how can we expect the obesity epidemic in the United States to improve? This epidemic is costly to society. But instead of standing around pointing fingers or accepting childhood obesity for what it is, we need to find ways—now—to stop the obesity epidemic from worsening. In addition to informing parents about the ways in which their behaviors influence their child’s behaviors, we must address the other major factors that directly influence children, who, we should remember, are exceptionally malleable—far more capable of change than most parents. Providing equal access to high-quality education and improving our educational system are fine places to start.
“Education is the transmission of civilization.” – Ariel and Will Durant
A direct link to this article can be found here
Many people argue that childhood obesity is not a school issue and it is not the responsibility of the school to be concerned about children’s health. Schools are designed to teach reading, math, science, English, now foreign language, and history. No Child Left Behind as made sure core academics remains the focus of American Schools.
These same people argue children’s health is totally the parent’s responsibility. I agree the responsibility of the health of children starts with the parents but childhood obesity is becoming a serious problem for society and it is quite obvious the solution will not come from pointing fingers at parents. Many parents struggle with their own weight problems and are not equipped to be role models for their children.
Anyone who believes solving the childhood obesity problem is not the schools responsibility needs to read this article – the health of children is a school issue if we want it to be or not – children’s health has many more far reaching negative impacts on education than we realize.
---------------------------------------------------
Childhood Obesity: The Educational Cost Kara Rogers - September 15th, 2008
Poor childhood health has life-long impacts, with devastating affects on a child’s education and future socioeconomic status. Childhood obesity is especially paralyzing. Research has shown that once a child has become obese, he or she struggles simply to pursue an education. If the current childhood obesity trend in the United States continues, by 2050, at least half the population will be obese and could very possibly be less educated than the overall population today.
This is a scary proposition, and social scientists, psychologists, and nutritionists are digging to find the root causes of and solutions to childhood obesity. Interrelated factors affecting childhood obesity include home life, demographics, and resources, such as access to high-quality healthcare and education. Perhaps the most influential of these factors is resources or, more precisely, a lack thereof. Lack of or lack of access to resources narrows choices and limits people to cheap, often unhealthy foods, to forgo health insurance, and to attend schools that provide a only a low-quality education.
Low-quality education has severe consequences. Children who receive a poor education as they pass through the educational prime of their lives are left unprepared, without the skills they need to reach their potentials, are intellectually depressed, and are susceptible to poor health. Children in poor health, who are obese, are abundant in the United States. Nearly one-fifth of U.S. children ages 2 to 19 are obese, and recent estimates in schoolchildren indicate the obesity rate is as high as one-third in some rural areas. Sadly, many of these children probably become obese before they understand what obesity is or have even heard the word obesity.
With education, children and adults are knowledgeable about their health and confident in their physical and mental abilities. These factors play an important role in diverting people away from obesity. But the relationship between health and education is not simply that educated people are healthy and uneducated people are unhealthy. There exists a clearly defined education-health gradient that is very simple to understand—the better educated we are, the healthier we are, and the less likely we are to become obese. This means that high-quality education and college education are especially important in relation to overall health, and more individuals with good health means a healthier society overall.
Childhood obesity can be addressed in multiple ways, though it relies heavily on resolving major problems relating to our educational system, our access to healthcare, and poverty. These issues require government action that promotes equal opportunities for children and families, regardless of demographics. However, working in direct opposition to equal opportunity education is the privatization of education. Privatization essentially puts children in direct academic competition with one another and does not acknowledge the reality that most children in the United States begin this competition with a grave disadvantage, in that they lack basic access to quality education.
Indicative of the competitive atmosphere plaguing U.S. education, in an effort to focus on and improve academic performance, many schools dropped recesses and physical education classes. This sent a strong, negative message to children and parents: physical health does not matter. PE classes were construed as a waste of time and money, despite scientific evidence that physical activity can improve brain function in children, in turn, improving academic performance.
If children and adults cannot read and understand nutrition labels on the foods and beverages they consume, how can we expect the obesity epidemic in the United States to improve? This epidemic is costly to society. But instead of standing around pointing fingers or accepting childhood obesity for what it is, we need to find ways—now—to stop the obesity epidemic from worsening. In addition to informing parents about the ways in which their behaviors influence their child’s behaviors, we must address the other major factors that directly influence children, who, we should remember, are exceptionally malleable—far more capable of change than most parents. Providing equal access to high-quality education and improving our educational system are fine places to start.
“Education is the transmission of civilization.” – Ariel and Will Durant
A direct link to this article can be found here
