Obesity on the Rise

07/25/2003

"If patience is worth anything, it must endure to the end of time." - Mohandas Gandhi

OBESITY ON THE RISE

The New York Times (July 9, 2003) reports the results of a survey which revealed that nearly half the children in New York City's public elementary schools are overweight, and about one in four is obese. Among Hispanic children, the rate of obesity is 31%.

The figures indicate that the rising obesity among American children, well documented in surveys over four decades, is worse in New York City than in the country as a whole. And they undercut the theory, promoted by some urban planners, that people who live in cities where walking is common are slimmer than those who dwell in places where a trip to the store or a movie is always made by car.

New York City Health Commissioner Thomas R. Frieden observed that the results were nothing less than a calamity in the making — a future wave of heart disease, diabetes and a raft of other ailments. "What's changed is the increased sedentary lifestyle, the supersizing fast-food, video game culture, and it's leading to a real epidemic," he said.

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