Grand Rounds: Childhood Obesity in the United States. Please note: An erratum has been published for this article. To view the erratum, please click here. January 21, 2011 / 60(02);42-46 The magnitude of the problem In the United States, childhood obesity affects approximately 12.5 million children and teens (17% of that population) (1). Changes in obesity prevalence from the 1960s show a rapid increase in the 1980s and 1990s, when obesity prevalence among children and teens tripled, from nearly 5% to approximately 15% (Figure 1) (1). During the past 10 years, the rapid increase in obesity has slowed and might have leveled. In the short term, obesity in children can lead to psychosocial problems and to cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension, high cholesterol, and abnormal glucose tolerance or diabetes.
The prevalence of obesity among U.S. adults (34%) is twice that observed in children and translates into nearly 73 million adult men and women (4). Challenges and strategies to combat the problem According to the U.S. Summary. Lack of Sleep May Increase Risk of Childhood Obesity. <br/><a href=" US News</a> | <a href=" Business News</a> Copy As if parents need another reason to enforce their little one's bed times: A new study has found a link between lack of sleep and unhealthy bodyweight.
The report, published in the latest issue of Pediatrics, said young children who skimp on sleep both during the week and on the weekends have a four-fold risk of obesity compared with their more well-rested peers. Using a special wrist device, University of Chicago investigators tracked the sleep patterns 308 children from Louisville, Ky., between the ages of four and 10 for a week. Before the study the young subjects were identified as normal, overweight, or obese based on their body mass index (BMI) scores, a measure of body fat based on height and weight. Even children who slumbered little during the week but managed to make up for a small portion of missed sleep on the weekends tripled their risk of obesity.
Obesity in america. Health Reference Center Academic - Document. Bribing Kids - Freakonomics Blog - NYTimes.com. Parents bribing kids for good behavior - Health - Children's health. CHICAGO — Call it a reward, or just “bribery.” Whichever it is, many parents today readily admit to buying off their children, who get goodies for anything from behaving in a restaurant to sleeping all night in their own beds. Often, the rewards are for behaviors their own parents would have simply expected, just because they said so. The new dynamic — sometimes seen as a backlash to that strictness — has some parenting experts wondering if today’s parents have gone too soft. “It’s definitely more our generation,” Kirsten Whipple, a 35-year-old mom in Northbrook, Ill., says with a quiet laugh. She can see why they might be — but she and her husband try not to overuse rewards and have found they work best for smaller things.
Whipple has noticed a downside though — what she calls a “sense of entitlement.” “Often times, it leads to good behavior with a question attached: ‘What are you going to give me?”’ That’s part of what worries parenting experts. “That’s a real-life consequence.” Pay for Grades: Should Parents Bribe Kids in School? In junior high school, one of my classmates had a TV addiction — back before it was normal.
This boy — we'll call him Ethan — was an encyclopedia of vacuous content, from The A-Team to Who's the Boss? Then one day Ethan's mother made him a bold offer. If he could go a full month without watching any TV, she would give him $200. None of us thought he could do it. But Ethan quit TV, just like that. Subscribe Now Get TIME the way you want it One Week Digital Pass — $4.99 Monthly Pay-As-You-Go DIGITAL ACCESS — $2.99 One Year ALL ACCESS — Just $30! Thousands of striking teachers rally in Chicago.
CHICAGO (AP) -- Thousands of striking Chicago public school teachers and their allies packed a city park Saturday in a boisterous show of force as union leaders and the district tried to work out the details of an agreement that could end a week-long walkout. Pushing strollers, toting signs and towing wagons of children, thousands of red-shirted teachers cheered and chanted as speaker after speaker urged them to stand firm until they have a deal in writing. They told the teachers that their strike was a symbol of hope for public teachers and other unions that have been losing ground around the nation. "I'm pretty confident that something will come together that both sides will agree on," said Ramses James, a sixth-grade math teacher.
"I believe this is a very strong turning point when you have so many people coming out to fight alongside (the teachers union). That means a lot. " The Rev. "Our mission is very clear: we fight for equal, high-quality public education for all," Jackson said. Striking Chicago Teachers Meet to Consider Deal.