http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/07...ren/index.html

I was surprised by this article on CNN today. I knew there were a lot of obese children, but the new report is that 18.4% of four-year-olds are obese. Not just overweight, but obese. Four-year-olds!

It's pretty depressing. With teenagers and older kids, people always say that the kids need to take reponsibility for their own food and activity choices. For four-year-olds, I think there is no question that the parents are to blame for their obese kids.

wow, that is so sad to have so many young children so unhealthy.

Cut screen time DOWN to two hours - is this per day?? My girls are lucky if they get 2 hours of screen time a week. Sheez!

And usually the #/% of people that are obese goes up as we age, so by the time these children are our ages there will hardly be any healthy people! Or maybe with vanity sizing, what is "obese" today will be "the new thin" then? Now there's a scary thought!!!

Shanna - earlier in the article they speak of screen time as both TV and computers if that helps

And I just cringe when people give their kids soda - might as well hand them a sugar bowl. Talk about empty calories. We never had soda in our house on a regular basis, though my grandparents did. My sister and I were allowed to split a 10 or 12 oz soda when we visited. Most people my age (64) didn't have TV as little kids. My grandparents got one when I was 7, and my parents when I was about 9 or 10.

I work in a public library and while I don't see too many obese little kids, I see plenty of middle school kids, mostly girls, who if not obsese are overweight. The boys still seem to be engaged in a lot of physical activity - even if it's chasing each other and wrestling. (I send them outside when the rough housing goes beyond a little shoving while sitting in chairs.)

Yes, there are a dozen ways to get "screen time" these days - TV and computers, plus all the video gaming systems, and hand held video games (DS, etc)... Still, we're pretty strict - I'd say they average maybe 3-4 hours a week total screen time including DS, computer class in school, and weekend movies - no soda, candy once in a while, lots of exercise daily - but not enough fruits and vegies.

I think a big part of the problem with preschool kids is that parents use the TV as a babysitter. It's easy to do - with twins it was awfully convenient and tempting to put on a movie so that they'd sit quietly while I got dinner or housework done. But I wanted them to learn to entertain themselves, so I tried not to do that much.

I agree with Jessica.How does a 4 year old get fat on their own?

I had a friend (don't spend much time with her anymore) that was morbidly obese and would allow her daughter to eat frosted cookie after frosted cookie in her home. They came to my house for a party and the little girl took ALL the choc covered strawberries (probably 14-16) and ate all the chocolate off and then left strawberries laying everywhere. The mother sort of just snickered about it and picked up the remnants. We would go to the mall and first it was lunch, then a smoothie within an hour and then cookies from the cookie shop before we left.

I felt sooooo tremendously horrible seeing her do this. Who wants that for their child? What educated, well spoken and informed person allows their child to do that? I understand doing it MYSELF but I couldn't do that to my child. I just didn't get it. The little girl is in elementary school now and is definitely obese. The mother dresses the little girl from head to toe so you never see her body but I am sure she is teased by the other kids. It is absolutely heartbreaking.

I agree two hours a day seems like a lot for elementary aged kids. Between school, going to the park afterwards, going to activities some days, doing their homework, eating dinner and taking baths we don't even have two hours.

ETA: We don't allow our kids to have their own computers or TV's and probably won't for sometime. We don't have a Wii or Nintendo DS either. If they want to bowl, we will go bowling. If they want to play softball, we play softball. No reason to pay for the simulation.

Sadly.. you mom's are in the minority when it comes to Screen time. There are many people today who allow their children quite a bit more than just 2 hours.

And keep up the good work in that strict control!

There are reports that some children get only 20mins of activity each day.
It is very heartbreaking to see parents giving their children everything they ask for, including food.. watching tv when they want, wearing whatever they want, getting the toys they want... it's all a lack of parental control...

One of the big motivators for me to get my diet and exercise habits in order, was to set a good example for my boys. Our actions speak louder than words. The kids are just following along in the parents' footsteps ...

To fix the kids, we need to fix the whole family, IMO. Everyone eating healthier, being active, not just sitting in front of the tube stuffing our face. When I changed my diet, then everyone's diet changed because I am the one doing the cooking!! Everyone is active in their own sports, and our vacations tend to be activity-based -- camping, hiking, kayaking, biking, skiing.

It's heartbreaking to see the obese parents with the obese toddlers and teenagers following behind. I totally agree that a 4 year old does NOT get obese on their own, but how can a parent help their child if they can't help themselves? The children are learning the wrong lifestyle habits from infancy. My theory is that our society's life expectancy will begin to decline in the next generation because of obesity-related health problems. Either that, or the cost of health care to deal with these issues will increase beyond belief. Or both. It's scary, really.

I think, both, MBN. I cannot see any way to fix the health care crisis with these lifestyle-influenced disease rates skyrocketing....

Step 1: healthy pregnancy
Step 2: breastfeeding
Step 3: clean up the WIC food offerings
Step 4: clean up free lunch programs, get PE in every school everday, safe playgrounds.....