Are Childhood Obesity Initiatives Shaping Up?

Newswise — Childhood obesity is a growing health concern in America, but a new research project raises questions about whether programs and initiatives to address this complex problem are taking the right approach. Dr. David McCarron, president of the Academic Network in Portland, Ore., revealed the initial findings of a national initiative called Shaping America's Youth today during the Institute of Food Technologists' Annual Meeting & Food Expo.

The initiative surveyed more than 1,300 organizations targeting the problem of inactive and overweight children. The results showed some stark contradictions between what steps medical experts say are necessary and what actually is being done.

For instance, while experts tout family involvement as key to reducing childhood obesity only eight percent of the programs involve other family members. The survey also found that 80 percent of the programs target children above age 6 " long after health habits have been established, in McCarron's opinions.

"Most of the programs are based on providing educational material rather than helping make active structural changes in the child's environment," he said. "The programs are not tying back into children's lives " they are talking rather than making changes."

Shaping America's Youth was begun in July, 2003, and the survey completed in February, 2004. Judith S. Stern, a professor of nutrition and internal medicine at the University of California at Davis, praised the speed, particularly in comparison to what she sees as inactivity on the part of government agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.

" The government has been too slow," she said. "They are talking instead of acting."

Van S. Hubbard, Ph.D., director of the division of the NIH Nutrition Research Coordination, noted that organizations tackling childhood obesity should look hard at whether they are truly contributing to the solution.

"A lot of people want to get into the game, but they are not asking what added value they are providing," he said.

The Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting and Food Expo is the world's largest annual food science and ingredient conference. Now in it's 64th year, the IFT Annual Meeting and Food Expo attracts up to 20,000 attendees and 1,000 exhibiting companies. It runs through Friday.