[Obesity Discussion]

Food fight: How can parents battle obesity when junk is at every turn?
By Theresa DeFranzo/northshore@cnc.com
Friday, March 09, 2007 - Updated: 01:22 PM EST




Does this sound familiar? You’re setting out with your kids for an afternoon at the park. You know they’ll want a snack, so you pack water bottles and yogurt. You get to the park only to find that many of the other parents packed snacks too – Munchkins, chips and cupcakes, to be exact.
Your child gravitates to one of these families, starring at their snacks. These parents do what most parents do; they offer to share. Oh, well. Maybe you’ll eat healthy tomorrow.
Kim Trigilio, a Beverly mother of two young boys, has lived that experience. She tries to shop for organic food and to have her children snack on healthy choices, but it’s not always easy.
“We will be at the park and other kids are eating Munchkins,” she says. “I try to bring a lot of healthy choices. I don’t give them a lot of that.”
As any parent knows, it’s hard to compete with doughnuts and chips. They taste good. And brownies are easy. That’s probably why every time we get our kids together — whether it’s at Girl Scouts, play dates or school functions — you’ll find store-bought baked goods instead of cut fruit.
It’s also hard to be known as the “carrot mom” — the one brandishing carrot and celery sticks when most other parents are serving Pop Tarts and Pringles.
However, putting aside how our kids’ friends refer to us behind our backs, if you take a look at the childhood obesity numbers, chances are you’ll run to the produce department of your nearest market. We clearly need to make some changes with the way we are feeding our children.
Obesity in kids is now an epidemic in the United States. The number of children who are overweight has doubled in the last two to three decades; currently one child in five is overweight. The increase is in both children and adolescents, and in all age, race and gender groups, according to the National Institutes of Health website.
“Obese children now have diseases like type 2 diabetes that used to only occur in adults,” notes the NIH. “And overweight kids tend to become overweight adults, continuing to put them at greater risk for heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke. But perhaps more devastating to an overweight child than the health problems is the social discrimination. Children who are teased a lot can develop low self-esteem and depression.”
There’s also, of course, the anecdotal evidence.
“I do my own casual observations,” says Sharon McCabe, the director of the Saugus public health department. “It looks like kids are chunky at younger ages. In the second or third grades there used to be one or two kids, now it’s more.”
Busy lifestyles, video games and television are the main reasons health care professionals say today’s kids are overweight. With mom and dad working it’s much easier to have fast food for dinner than it is to come home and make a nutritious meal.
But beyond that, the fact of the matter is that food is part of our lives. You know you can’t show up empty handed at someone’s home when you go on one of your dozens of prescheduled play dates, just as much as you know they would rather you show up with something sweet and gooey instead of a bag of carrots.
Food is a big part of how we socialize. So striking up a balance between the good and the not-so-good is difficult.
“Food is present at every part of life,” says Linda Bassett, who teaches culinary courses at North Shore Community College, including one on culinary history. “You have food to celebrate a wedding or a birth. It’s at the movies and the ballpark. It started out just for fuel. Now it has become social.”
Bassett says we have to strike a balance. She also says we have to do something we might not want to: spend a weekend day cooking healthy meals for your family that you can freeze and heat up during the week. The other benefit of this is that you can control the amount of sugar and salt you want your kids eating.
Bassett knows that the thought of giving up a Sunday afternoon sounds terrible to some, but she says it’s necessary.
“We are eating stuff (made) out of chemicals on top of chemicals,” she says. “Kids have no idea what real food is.”

Help is on the way
Anyone who has ever tried to lose weight — and we’re not just talking about those five pounds so you can fit into your favorite pair of jeans — knows how difficult it can be. If your child is the one in five who is overweight, know that there are people who want to help. Beverly Hospital is one health care organization that has a program in place.
At Beverly Hospital’s Hunt Center, overweight or over-fat children can take part in the FUNdamental Family Fitness Program run by the Lifestyle Management Institute (LMI). The program is available through a pediatrician’s referral to any overweight or obese child, 8 years of age or older, and their parents interested in improving their health.
Dyan Dal Pozzo, the manager of the LMI, says they were already running a successful program for adults when several pediatricians came to them and said, “What are you going to do for the kids?” This program began in July 2005 and since that time 50 kids have participated, Dal Pozzo says.
This family-centered program begins with a comprehensive evaluation by a fitness team. There are two phases to the program. The first phase is a six-week program. Here, kids and their parents come to the center twice a week for educational classes and sessions. These sessions are designed to improve knowledge of how to live a healthy lifestyle. The participants also use the exercise room.
At the end of the six weeks, the family can either continue on its own or use the services provided by LMI. What’s important is that the family works on this together, says Laurel Kapferer, an exercise physiologist.
“We keep data on all the kids. The parents who do participate in the exercise or follow through ... they have the best outcomes.”
The reverse is true as well. As Dal Pozzo says, “Our children mimic what we do. We have to lead by example.”
And parents also have to realize that an overweight child faces more than just health risks. There is the self-esteem issue as well. Annette Knight, an R.N. and a certified diabetic educator, says an overweight child may not want to take his shirt off to go swimming. Then they miss out on that activity on a social level as well as physical level. Riding a bike may not be easy, so they give up on that too, she says.
“This program doesn’t look at one factor. We look at several factors,” she says. “We look at what is going on at home. What are they eating. How much screen time is there. We look at the things that can be controlled, modified and changed.”
The town of Saugus is also trying do something about this nationwide epidemic. McCabe says the town received a $5,000 grant last year to find ways to target juvenile diabetes and obesity. She says the Exercise Your Spirit Committee worked with the assets in the community.
Specifically, the committee worked with the 11 houses of worship in Saugus and created a walking route connecting them. Walkers can choose to walk a five-mile loop or one of the shorter loops. Outside each house of worship the churches have picked a Biblical scripture that talks about walking.
“We wanted to talk about living a balanced lifestyle,” McCabe says. “It’s physical, mental, spiritual, emotional and social. Each is important to achieve a healthy lifestyle.”
McCabe says there are a number of reasons kids are overweight these days. The biggest reason, she says, is inactivity.
“We don’t go out and play. You are waiting to be driven somewhere. Then there’s the tech age. We are strapped to all the games,” McCabe says. “I think Americans are tipping the scales not so much because of the food but because of the inactivity level. I think food is part of every social event. It should be. It’s a good time to indulge and enjoy. (But) it should not be done every day.”
Healthy choices
If you’re a parent who wants to do more to provide your child with healthy eating choices, then read on.
Bassett says one piece of advice she has is to take your children to the local farmer’s market. She says the market in Marblehead is “spectacular.” In addition to the food for sale, there’s also entertainment. Letting kids pick out their favorite fruits and vegetables may be a way to get them to eat them more often, Bassett says.
Another suggestion she has is when you have kids over to play or for birthday parties, let them make their own food. For example, she says, let the kids make hamburgers. Put out all the usual condiments as well as lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and peppers to put on top, and some kids may choose foods they typically don’t.
Judy DiPaola, a registered dietician with Beverly Hospital/Hunt Center Lifestyle Management Institute, also has some advice for parents looking to help their families live a healthier life.
First of all, DiPaola says, don’t always rely on the convenience of the school lunch. Oftentimes this is not the healthiest choice, so she recommends that you pack your child’s lunch. Also, she says, stay away from soda and juice.
“Water is the best beverage,” DiPaola says.
Make sure you eat as a family. When you don’t, she says you are more likely to grab something to eat instead of sitting at the table with a healthy, balanced meal.
In other words, keeping food from taking over every aspect of your kids’ lives takes thought, time and planning. And a thick skin over being called the carrot mom.
Editor’s note: For more information about the FUNdamental Family Fitness Program, call 978-774-4400.