Published: July 31, 2008 11:56 pm      

HEALTH: Child obesity issue weighs heavily

As a senior partner with Tonawanda Pediatrics for the past 21 years, Evelyn Hurvitz has seen the community’s population decrease. She’s also seen a bulging of area residents’ bellies, particularly among children.

“It’s definitely a major issue. It is very prevalent,” Hurvitz said of childhood obesity. “More and more children are coming in now who are obese, even at the preschool age.” She attributes it largely to Americans’ sedentary lifestyle. It’s that way of life that has pediatricians seeing a higher number of overweight children. “It’s not shocking anymore,” Hurvitz said.

Earlier this month, a North Tonawanda elementary school physical education teacher sounded the alarm on the fact that the district is lagging behind the minimum state requirement for exercise each week.

Debra Giglia told district officials that there are more than 150 overweight elementary children in North Tonawanda schools, and that they are getting 45 fewer minutes of exercise in school each week than New York state requires.

When children pack on the pounds at an early age, it becomes tougher for them to shed the weight later in life, Hurvitz said.

It’s not just North Tonawanda schools that are winded by a lack of exercise. Dozens of schools locally and statewide have been identified, further amplifying the problem of childhood obesity.

The issue takes on increased significance in Niagara County, where 60 percent of the overall population is overweight or obese, according to Claudia Kurtzworth, the Niagara County Health Department’s public health educator. Nearly 57 percent of New York’s residents are overweight, “and that’s high,” Kurtzworth said.

While that’s bad enough, the diseases associated with obesity — heart disease and diabetes — compound the problem, Kurtzworth said, adding that Niagara County also has the highest rate of cardiovascular disease among the eight counties of Western New York.

The prevalence of obesity in adults contributes to the unhealthy weight in children, local health officials say. It’s also the reason why health experts urge parents to exercise with their kids to impose upon them the importance of living a healthy lifestyle.

After nearly two decades of alarming increases in the percentage of obese children nationally, the epidemic appears to have hit a plateau, according to data released in May by the National Center for Health Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Still, approximately 16 percent of the nation’s youth are obese, prompting health experts to suggest that this may be the first generation that does not outlive its parents.

Gretchen Mittelstaedt of North Tonawanda wants to make sure that doesn’t happen. She was at Payne Park in North Tonawanda Thursday evening, where her 3-year-old son Jimmy was zipping around the playground. “I’m an old-fashioned parent. I believe (getting) outside, running around in fresh air is very important,” she said.

“I think nowadays, not only is it hard for kids to socialize, but it’s hard for them to get outside and get fresh air,” she said, adding that video games are the main culprit.

Given that, health officials are taking steps toward trying to reverse the child obesity trend. Pediatricians extoll to parents the virtues of getting their kids to exercise and eat healthy, and that counseling typically begins at toddler age.

In addition, they’re recommending something that was unheard of when Joan McDermott joined the Niagara County Youth Bureau 25 years ago — testing cholesterol levels in children. “That’s very shocking, because that was never an issue,” said McDermott, Youth Bureau director. “This wasn’t a common thing before.”

The obesity issue — what causes it and how to reverse the trend — has taken on such importance that the Youth Bureau has scheduled a summit in October at the Niagara Falls Convention and Conference Center to tackle the problem.

The contributing factors are obvious, starting with a lack of exercise and an unhealthy diet. Many children now are eating too late in the day, making it impossible for their bodies to use those calories, said Hurvitz, of Tonawanda Pediatrics. As if it wasn’t hard enough getting a child to eat healthy foods, parents have to battle against the ubiquitous onslaught of food and beverage advertising geared toward children.

Tuesday, the Federal Trade Commission unveiled a report that shows that in 2006, 44 major food and beverage marketers spent $1.6 billion promoting their products to children. “There’s so much availability of sugary snacks that are full of empty calories,” Hurvitz said.

Moreover, fast food is significantly cheaper to buy and, particularly in these tight economic times, becomes a more alluring alternative to many parents, she said.

A television commercial Hurvitz saw one recent night points to another factor — eating too much. The spot advertised double-meat subs at Subway restaurants. “That’s our society. Everything is supersized,” she said.

And that includes our children.

Contact reporter David J. Hill at 693-1000, ext. 115.