SEPTEMBER 2014
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Childhood Obesity
 Hiking Flattop Mountain in Anchorage, Alaska. Photo Credit: Nathaniel
Wilder; used with permission from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The challenge
Childhood obesity is one of the leading public health
concerns in America — and Alaska — today.
About 1 in 3 children are now overweight or obese.[1,2]
Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children ages
6-11 and quadrupled in adolescents (ages 12-19) in the past 30 years.[3] This
is problematic because obese children and adolescents are at higher risk for
health problems and are more likely to be obese as adults.[4]
Obese youth are more likely to develop risk factors for
cardiovascular disease (like high blood pressure), and have elevated risk for
health problems, such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and orthopedic problems
— conditions previously found mainly in adults.[5]
In addition, obese children have a greater risk of social and psychological
problems, such as discrimination and poor self-esteem, which can carry into
adulthood.[6]
In Alaska[2]:
-
26% of high school students are either
overweight or obese;
-
35% of kindergarteners and 40% of 2- to 4-year-olds
in Alaska are either overweight or obese;
-
Nearly 80% of Alaska high school students do not
get the recommended amount of daily physical activity; and
-
Nine out of ten (89%) high school students in
Alaska eat fewer than the recommended number of servings of fruits and
vegetables each day.
What we are doing
Efforts to reduce overweight and obesity in Alaska have been
underway for more than 10 years – starting with the creation of the State of
Alaska Obesity Prevention and Control Program (OPCP) in 2003.
The mission of the program is to reduce and prevent obesity
among Alaskans through the promotion of physical activity and good nutrition.
To advance that mission, OPCP has developed a comprehensive
statewide plan for reducing obesity in addition to providing a variety of
resources documenting the burden of obesity on the health
and finances
of the state. The state OPCP currently
has several successful initiatives in place, including the Play Every Day public education campaign
that partners with the Healthy Futures
program to motivate Alaska families and children to get out and play every day.
This fall, Play Every Day will roll out a new public
education campaign aimed at reducing youth consumption of sugary drinks. The
campaign will feature television public service announcements that will
complement information and resources online. The campaign also sent educational
posters to hundreds of schools across Alaska. Alaskans will be encouraged
to drink water and low-fat milk, and elementary-age students who complete the
Healthy Futures Challenge will receive a “Play Every Day” water bottle as a
prize. The “drink water” message will be promoted at Anchorage Healthy Futures
events, and Healthy Futures is field testing a program at several Anchorage
middle schools where students will record their physical activity and their
sugary drink intake with the goal of reducing or eliminating sugary drinks from
their diets.
To reduce childhood obesity specifically, the Alaska Alliance for Healthy Kids was initiated with a statewide summit in the
fall of 2013. The group’s mission is to reverse the upward trend of childhood
overweight and obesity prevalence and its impact on the Alaska economy to
improve the well-being of current and future Alaskans. The Alliance formed to
expand the reach of an interagency taskforce of leaders in the health and
education fields called Alaskans Taking on Childhood Obesity.
Other past and current OPCP initiatives to combat childhood
obesity include mini-grants for schools to purchase salad bars and equipment; a
partnership with Anchorage, Mat-Su, Kenai Peninsula and other school districts
to monitor the weight status of students; and grants to schools to implement
“Farm to School” projects. More recently, the Obesity Prevention School Grant
Program is funding eight grantee
school districts to create and implement strong school wellness policies
related to physical activity and nutrition; increased daily activity; and
improved nutrition environments by providing local farm fresh foods, Alaska
fish and salad bars.
Weight status is being monitored in several school districts
in Alaska using the Alaska
Student Weight Status Surveillance System. Through the participation and
assistance of schools, parents, programs, agencies, volunteers, and grantees, the
OPCP is now seeing a reduction in childhood obesity. Childhood obesity
prevalence among public school children in grades K, 1, 3, 5, and 7 in the
Anchorage and Mat-Su school districts has decreased by 3.4%, from 17.4% in
2003-04 to 16.8% in 2013-14.[7] While recognizing this important
reduction, OPCP is continuing its initiatives to further lower obesity
prevalence throughout Alaska and improve the health of children and adults.
Citations
-
Ogden CL,
Carroll MD, Kit BK, Flegal KM. Prevalence of childhood and adult obesity in the
United States, 2011-2012. Journal of the American Medical Association
2014;311(8):806-814.
-
Alaska
Department of Health and Social Services. Alaska Obesity Facts Report – 2014.
Anchorage, Alaska: Section of Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion,
Division of Public Health, Alaska Department of Health and Social Services;
January 2014.
-
National
Center for Health Statistics. Health, United States, 2013: With Special Feature
on Prescription Drugs. Hyattsville, MD; U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services; 2014.
-
Freedman
DS, Kettel L, Serdula MK, Dietz WH, Srinivasan SR, Berenson GS. The relation of
childhood BMI to adult adiposity: the Bogalusa Heart Study. Pediatrics 2005;115:22–27.
-
Freedman
DS, Zuguo M, Srinivasan SR, Berenson GS, Dietz WH. Cardiovascular risk factors
and excess adiposity among overweight children and adolescents: the Bogalusa
Heart Study. Journal of Pediatrics 2007;150(1):12–17.
-
Daniels S, Arnett D, Eckel R, et al. Overweight in
children and adolescents: pathophysiology, consequences, prevention, and treatment.
Circulation 2005;111:1999-2012.
-
CDC.
Obesity in K–7 Students - Anchorage, Alaska, 2003–04 to 2010–11 School Years.
MMWR. May 31, 2013/62(21);426-430.
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