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Introduction “Our nation’s young people are, in large measure, inactive, unfit, and increasingly overweight. In the long run, this physical inactivity threatens to reverse the decades-long progress we have made in reducing death from cardiovascular diseases and to devastate our national health care budget. In the short run, physical inactivity has contributed to an unprecedented epidemic of childhood obesity that is currently plaguing the United States.” - Report to the President from the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Education, Fall 2000
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The children of America are the fattest children in the world. In the last 20 years, the prevalence of overweight American children has increased so dramatically that the American Academy of Pediatrics now claims, “Overweight is now the most common medical condition of childhood.”1 Once a rare affliction, childhood obesity has become so pervasive that it is commonly referred to as an epidemic – a word that is not used lightly in the healthcare community. Today, more than 30 percent of Americans ages 6-19 are overweight, and more than 15 percent are obese.2 This means that in a group of seven children, the odds are that one is overweight and another is obese. Since 1976, the prevalence of obesity has doubled for children ages 6-11 and tripled for adolescents ages 12-19. As these young people age, their poor eating habits and sedentary lifestyles will cause not only an unprecedented rate of premature death and disability, but also serious financial repercussions for their families, insurers, and healthcare providers. This book is both a call to action and a guidebook. It is intended to help parents, grandparents, educators, caregivers, and other concerned adults understand: • How to objectively assess a child’s weight • What has caused the dramatic increase in overweight children • The consequences of this epidemic • The myths and facts about nutrition, exercise, and weight loss • How to help children eat properly and get plenty of exercise The book is based not only on extensive research but also on personal experience. Like millions of Americans, I spent the better part of my adult life with a weight problem. Like many, I allowed the demands of work, family, and community to supercede physical fitness. Although I followed the food guide pyramid and fastidiously avoided dietary fat, I approached my 40th birthday 30 pounds overweight and suffering from high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high triglycerides. Aware that these conditions dramatically increased my risk for premature death or disability, I made a commitment to solving my weight problem. I joined a gym and after several months had succeeded in dropping a few pounds, but my blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglycerides remained elevated. Frustrated, I decided to conduct some research. After all, I was a professional market researcher: if I could help the some of the nation’s most successful companies solve their problems, surely I could apply the same skills to discover why diet and exercise were not producing the results I desired. I started my research by reading about nutrition. What I learned was both shocking and liberating. It became clear that the low-fat high-carbohydrate diet was not only incapable of solving my weight problem–it seemed to be causing it. As a result of this revelation, I focused my nutritional research on alternatives to the low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet, one of which was the Zone diet advocated by Dr. Barry Sears.3 This approach to weight loss was based on using foods to balance hormone and insulin levels. Sears claimed that eating the right foods in the right combinations at the right times would result in permanent weight loss and enhanced physical and mental performance (what athletes call being “in the zone”). After discussing the program with several people who had used it to achieve lasting results, I decided to give it a try. The Zone diet worked for me, but not as well as I had hoped. After a couple of months, I had lost a few pounds but seemed to have hit a wall. Try as I might, I could not lose any more weight. One day I bumped into an old friend and noticed that he had lost a considerable amount of weight. When I asked how he did it, he told me he had been on the Sugar Busters diet and explained that the Sugar Busters approach is to decrease consumption of "bad carbohydrates" (corn, potatoes, processed grains, refined sugar, and white rice) and increase consumption of "good carbohydrates" (fruits, high fiber vegetables, and whole grains). The next day I picked up a copy of Sugar Busters! Cut Sugar to Trim Fat.4 I began following the book’s recommendations and embarked on a way of eating that, combined with daily exercise, has helped me to lose over 25 pounds, reduce my cholesterol, and lower my blood pressure. With my newfound knowledge about carbohydrates, I began to see the world through different eyes. One of the things I saw shocked me. As I looked at my three children, I recognized that with the best of intentions my wife and I had been serving them meals and snacks that were virtually guaranteed to make them overweight. Compounding this problem was the fact that we had allowed their lives to become increasingly sedentary. In short, I realized that we were killing our kids. The remedy was not only to change the children’s diet but also to increase their physical activity. To avoid resistance or outright mutiny, I knew we needed a plan and that this plan required additional research. This book is the result of that research and the experience of implementing what I learned. I have taken the same approach to this book that I have used to serve many of the nation’s most successful corporations: collect and analyze data; identify implications; and recommend actions. I do not presume to have all the answers, but of this I am certain: Our children are sick and we must take immediate action to help them. It is my sincere desire that this book will provide you the information, tools, and motivation to help children develop lifelong habits of healthy eating and physical fitness. __________________________ 1. American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on School Health. Soft drinks in schools. Pediatrics. 2004; 113(1):152-154. 2. American Obesity Association fact sheet. Obesity in youth. Internet: http://www.obesity.org/subs/fastfacts/obesity_youth.shtml. Accessed June 20, 2004. 3. Sears, B. The Zone: Revolutionary Life Plan to Put Your Body in Total Balance for Permanent Weight Loss. New York: Regan Books; 1995. 4. Steward, HL, Bethea, MC, Andrews, SS, and Balart, LA. Sugar Busters! Cut Sugar to Trim Fat. New York: Ballantine Books; 1998. |
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