Class Gap: Obesity Declines in Well-Off Kids, but Climbs in Poor
Rates of obesity in
adolescents skyrocketed in the United States in the 1980s and 1990s, but
have plateaued over the last decade, on average. However, Harvard
Kennedy School researchers found in recent data that a quarter of all
kids whose parents have less education are obese, compared to just one
in 14 kids from more affluent, more educated families.
"There is some good
news," lead author Carl Frederick, research fellow at the Saguaro
Seminar of the Harvard Kennedy School, said about the report released
Monday. "But efforts so far are not reaching all parts of society …
Unfortunately there are huge obstacles," Frederick said.
In 2003 to 2004,
according to the surveys, about 17 percent of adolescents aged 12 to 17
years were obese, nearly double the rate of 9 percent between 1988 and
1991. Overall, that number has largely stayed the same, but since
2003-2004, the children of less-educated, lower-income parents are more
likely to be obese.
In 2009 to 2010, 26
percent, or roughly 1 in 4 kids whose parents have at most a high school
education, were obese, compared to 7 percent, or roughly 1 in 14, kids
whose parents have at least a four-year college degree, according to
Frederick. He cited data from the National Health and Nutrition
Examination Surveys and the National Survey of Children’s Health.
Lack of exercise is a
main factor in the disparity, Frederick said, with access to sports and
other activities playing a big role in the obesity rate among low-income
teens.
"It is important to teach kids lifetime activities, ways to change their activities in their everyday lifestyles rather than hard-core sports that may be intimidating to kids and their families."
Parent
income can affect the quality of neighborhood kids live in — whether it
is safe to play outside or walk to school, whether there are sidewalks,
and whether there are accessible supermarkets with fresh food, not just
convenience stores, the new research indicates.
And it also limits the resources that parents have to help their kids play sports, for example.
"The higher-income
families have the resources to make it happen. They have the money to
sign up their kids for sports that cost money, for example," said
Marlene Schwartz, director of the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy and
Obesity. "There is a big difference between knowing what to do and
really being able to do it."
Childhood obesity has
been targeted as a critical public health concern in the U.S., with
first lady Michelle Obama’s three-year-old "Let's Move" program
encouraging healthy eating and exercise among kids.
Obese children are more
likely to suffer more social problems at school, and they are more
likely to have Type 2 diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea and high blood
pressure, among other conditions previously reserved for older adults.
When obese kids grow up, they are more likely to be overweight adults
and suffer from chronic disease.
Courtesy of Jacklyn Lucero
For 17-year-old Jacklyn
Lucero, a senior at Prairie View High School in Henderson, Colo. who had
been overweight since she was 8, the message to eat right and exercise
more "bounced right off me."
Even though Jacklyn
considers her family middle class — both parents are employed and her
mother is a trained nurse technician — the cost of high school sports,
along with the time commitment, was a factor in her quitting volleyball,
which she played in middle school.
"The money had a lot to do with it," she said.
It wasn't until she was
diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes late last year and feared the disease's
effect on her fertility that Jacklyn decided to change her lifestyle.
She now goes to the gym for more than an hour a day, at least six days a
week, and eats more fruit and vegetables.
The 5'4" teen has since
lost 17 pounds and continues to work hard to drop the 40 more pounds
needed to reach her goal weight of 160 pounds. In fact, the upbeat,
outgoing girl has inspired many of her friends to exercise with her and
to kick the junk food habit.
Dr. Megan Kelsey,
associate professor of pediatric endocrinology at the University of
Colorado – Denver, called for more funding of community and school-based
activities, that are available to all kids.
"Certainly we see in our
clinic that the resources aren't as available to our patients in the
lower socioeconomic class as opposed to the upper," Kelsey said.
"We need to take away
some of the barriers that are there," Kelsey said, adding that children
need access to exercise activities that aren’t just competitive team
sports. Jacklyn Lucero (right), 17, and her sister, Jordan Lucero, 13.
They are at a park in Thornton, Colo. "It is important to teach kids
lifetime activities, ways to change their activities in their everyday
lifestyles rather than hard-core sports that may be intimidating to kids
and their families."
As for Jacklyn, she knew she had to take her situation into her own hands.
"I am so much more
motivated now," she said in a telephone interview. "School has been a
lot better. I didn’t even think I was going to graduate on time." She is
now on schedule to finish in spring and plans to continue her education
with courses in tattoo removal.
In Plain Sight: Poverty in America
More
than 5 years after the Great Recession, 15 percent of Americans – more
than 46 million – live below the poverty line, and income inequality in
the U.S. is at its highest level since the 1920s.
For more than a year,
NBC News has embarked on a special editorial initiative to cover how
poverty and inequality affect the lives of millions of Americans. The
project, In Plain Sight: Poverty in America, is supported by a grant
from the Ford Foundation.
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