NYT: Children's Life Expectancy Being Cut Short by Obesity

[DeepModem Mom]

Children's Life Expectancy Being Cut Short by Obesity
By PAM BELLUCK

Published: March 17, 2005


BOSTON, March 16 - For the first time in two centuries, the current generation of children in America may have shorter life expectancies than their parents, according to a new report, which contends that the rapid rise in childhood obesity, if left unchecked, could shorten life spans by as much as five years.

The report, to be published Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine, says the prevalence and severity of obesity is so great, especially in children, that the associated diseases and complications - Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, kidney failure, cancer - are likely to strike people at younger and younger ages.

The report, which wades into several controversial aspects of public health, is likely to stir debate on both scientific and political grounds. The health effects of being obese depend on many factors, like one's fitness level. And estimating these effects could alter the expected cost of medical care and the size of pension payouts.

The report says the average life expectancy of today's adults, roughly 77 years, is at least four to nine months shorter than it would be if there were no obesity. That means that obesity is already shortening average life spans by a greater rate than accidents, homicides and suicides combined, the authors say.

And they say that because of obesity, the children of today could wind up living two to five years less than they otherwise would, a negative effect on life span that could be greater than that caused by cancer or coronary heart disease....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/17/health/17obese.html

[Wilms]

1. That solves the Social Security crisis.

:shrug:

[DeepModem Mom]

2. The article actually addresses this! From the article --

....The report comes at a time when the country is embroiled in a debate over Social Security. While the report's authors say they started their research long before the current debate, they write that "the U.S. population may be inadvertently saving Social Security by becoming more obese" and dying sooner, but that "this 'benefit' will occur at the expense of the economy in the form of lost productivity before citizens reach retirement and large increases in Medicare costs associated with obesity and its complications."...

[Wilms]

5. That's what I get for not bothering to register.

And yes. That's why what I posted WAS a joke. And the medical bills are the least of it.

Consider every other bit of fall-out for the individual and the society. Think of all the "activity" that's people are engaged in to help create this situation.

Everything affects everything.

[DeepModem Mom]

7. Wilms, very often legit news articles could as well be from The Onion!

:)

[camby]

3. We need to wise up -

This obesity crisis is caused by a) the fact that it is necessary for most families to have 2 incomes in order to survive, thereby causing kids to be stuck in after school programs without time for exercise; b) the fact that our cities/suburbs sprawl endlessly requiring that we drive wherever we need to go. There are things we can do to address both of these situations, and we need to start doing them.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

4. Is this article measuring obesity by the newer height and weight....

...guidelines that the medical community published a few years ago? You know, the guidelines that were virtually impossible to maintain by any normal American unless you wanted to reenact the Bataan Death March?

Almost immediately after these guidelines hit the street the doctors, pharmacists, and infomercial "experts" were hawking their wares.

You have to ask the question...who benefits by the establishment of these guidelines?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

8. There's a difference between being overweight and obese

One can be slightly overweight and still be healthy. Obesity however is a real health threat.

I know. I lost 85 lbs after being diagnosed with type II diabetes. It's made a heck of a difference in my health.

It has been a lifestyle change but not one that's impossible to do. I've just has to eat smarter and move a bit more.

There's no grand conspiracy going on here per these guidelines

[CountAllVotes]

9. who benefits by the establishment of these guidelines?

Good point. Answer: Largely the pharmaceutical companies; second the doctors presribing these drugs.

I could go on a whole long rant hear but I'll spare you the details.

As for the social security "crisis" ... the "crisis" I see is this:

Examples:

Sibling dead age 42 cancer - obese and "supersized" to death.

Second exampe: cousin age 51 - dies of a stroke.

Both paid into social security so who collects this money? Where did it all go?

Too bad the pharmaceutical companies could not help/save these individuals! :argh:

[DoveTurnedHawk]

12. You're Blaming the Pharmaceutical Industry for Obesity?

Sorry, I don't get that one.

The notion that obesity (as opposed to being mildly overweight) is bad for your health is basic common sense, and I can't see how that's Big Pharma's fault. If obese folks are capable of losing the weight (whether through diet, exercise, drugs, or in extreme cases perhaps even surgery), then good for them. It's certainly a desirable goal, health-wise.

DTH

[CountAllVotes]

17. trickle down effect

You develop diabetes, now you need the insulin. Now you have heart disease ... more drugs ... more $ for them so yes, I do blame them as everything is "curable" in many people's eyes.

Yeah I blame the pharmaecutical industy and the greed that goes with being affiliated with it.

But hey, in my mind, I blame A LOT of things on the pharmaceutical industry. I truly believe they are evil.

[DoveTurnedHawk]

19. Most People Rely on Exercise and Diet

And not drugs, to lose weight.

I think your position is a bit extreme.

DTH

[CountAllVotes]

21. I admit, it is extreme

I seriously believe that the corporations and pharmaceutical companies WANT people to be overweight and sick and yep, call it extreme. That is AOK with me! :D

[hue]

47. You never ascribe some of the responsibility to the obese one?

Do you never believe the person who is too lazy to walk or excercise, and stop themselves from stuffing their mouths with fast food or whatever they want has any share of responsibility for being obese?
What is gluttony? What is laziness? What is being fixated with oral gratification? What about these people who are "frequent flyers" in the hospitals who never comply with expert medical advise?
Are you blaming the pharmaceutical companies for those who have been prescribed important medication for their hearts and blood pressures yet do not take the medicine but go off their diets for fries and double whoppers?

[NickB79]

22. You usually don't need insulin for obesity-related diabetes

My grandmother was diagnosed with it a decade ago. By simply losing weight and watching what she eats, she never needed insulin injections.

Even if the pharmaceutical companies make money off of people's obesity-related health problems, how did they cause people to become obese? If you blamed fast-food restaurants, I'd wholeheartedly agree with you, because they actually supply the food required to make you fat. But pharmaceuticals? What do they do to fatten up the average American?

A lot of companies make money off of people's problems; that doesn't mean they caused them. I needed over 1000 lbs of black dirt to help improve the crappy soil in our yard. That doesn't mean that in the middle of the night landscapers snuck in and took away all the good soil there before.

[CountAllVotes]

26. pharmaceuticals are in the food!

Ever read the list of ingredients on the crap being sold in the stores? All sorts of chemcials ladden with traces of drugs.

Sickening!

And the fast food is even worse I agree!

However, it is all of these chemicals being manufactured and added to mutate the food that causes people to want to eat as much.

I saw the DVD Supersize me and good gawd how sick! What exactly is being added to the food to make it addictive?

[NickB79]

41. Exactly what trace drugs are you referring to?

I know that there are a lot of preservatives, coloring agents, and flavoring agents added to modern processed foods. However, those are far, far from being considered drugs. And pharmaecutical corporations don't even make most food additives that are used in processed foods. Could you detail which drugs the pharma companies add to foods they don't even have manufacturing control over?

"However, it is all of these chemicals being manufactured and added to mutate the food that causes people to want to eat as much."

Mutated food? Unless your food is still alive while you eat it, just how does dead, ground-up plant and animal matter mutate?

"What exactly is being added to the food to make it addictive?"

The same thing grandmothers have added for decades: fat. Lots and lots of delicious, lip-smacking, artery-clogging, WMD-for-the-heart fat. You can see the fat dripping off a freshly made McDonald's burger these days.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

42. Actually only type I diabetics need insulin

It's sometimes called Juvenile Diabetes and is a result of the body's inability to produce insulin.

Type II diabetes is a form of insulin resistance and is usually caused by being overweight. The body cannot produce enough insulin to deal with the extra mass one carries.

Though insulin is sometimes used to treat type II diabetes more often drugs are given to stimulate the pancreas to create more insulin.

Better yet losin weight and watching what one eats can eliminate the need for these drugs.

I chose the last option because I saw too many people with diabetes who did not benifit from drug therapy.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

25. If you lower the weight guidelines by 10 or more pounds....

...doesn't that also effect who gets classified as obese? Doesn't that add even more people to the obese category simply because the standards were lowered? And yes, doctors, pharmacists and infomercial quacks stand to gain from the additional people finding themselves in the obese category through no fault of their own.

Let's describe what's happened in another way...and this is exactly what happened as this country grew...if the Smith family lived in County A and the county was divided into County A and County B, the Smith family could find themseleves living in County B without having moved an inch. And then, if County B was divided into County B and County C, the Smith family could have found themselves living in County C, yet another county without moving an inch. Their distant descendants would then be driven crazy trying find where the Smith family lived in those three counties when they never moved from their original location.

This is exactly what's being done with the height and weight guidelines...people who were not obese before the new guidelines came out suddenly found themselves on the obese list without ever gaining a pound. And yes, pharmacy companies benefit because of the drugs prescribed by the doctors to help weight loss. Infomercial quacks benefit because people will buy anything to avoid going to a doctor.

[DoveTurnedHawk]

46. A Relatively Thin Person Randomly Categorized as "Obese"

Is probably not going to start chugging diet pills and getting stomach staplings. Maybe that person will diet and exercise more, and I personally believe that's a good thing.

Considering how our nation's obesity levels are exploding, maybe lowering the guidelines is a good thing, too.

DTH

[DBoon]

6. Proof that america is moving backwards

when our lifespan actually drops in absolute terms.

It has already dropped in relative terms, from #1 to #23 (right there with Costa Rica - no offense to this peaceful and relatively prosperous country, but the USA should be doing better)

[Logansquare]

10. My anecdotal observation

I live in a predominately Hispanic lower-income neighborhood in Chicago. The kids I see, especially the *boys* for some reason, are obviously overweight. When I was a kid, there were always two or three "fat" children in a class of 30; now it seems like about half of the kids I see are overweight. It's simply not normal for a 10 year old boy to have little breasts and to waddle when walking. I notice that most of the children in my neighborhood have access to huge quantities of snack foods like chips and sweetened soda. We ate candy 40 years ago, but it's harder to consume the calories quickly when you're eating a Tootsie Roll Pop as opposed to a Big Gulp. When I was a kid, chips didn't come in "individual serving" size, and we only ate them at parties and special occasions. It seems like all the odds are stacked against these poor kids--little exercise combined with very high calorie/low nutrition foods.

[MadisonProgressive]

51. Don't forget TV, video games, and the computer

When I grew up we had CBS, NBC, ABC, and PBS. Either that or you went outside and played. Now they have 100 channels, video games, comuter games, the internet, IM, email, etc. Drink a couple of Pepsis and a bowl of potato chips before supper, and well....

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

11. 52% FAT...eat em up, kids

[DoveTurnedHawk]

13. I Had One of Those Last Night

First time in ages. Probably over a year.

Damn, did it taste good. ;-)

DTH

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

16. Cool. You are also a 30 year old man with a fully developed central

nervous system and brain which means that you have the ability to weigh all things equally prior to downing a gut bomb. McDonald's and other fast foods are getting their marketing into the schools. They don't sit down with focus groups and study every characteristic of their market including youth habits both with and away from their parents so as to persuade them to NOT eat their food.

[DoveTurnedHawk]

20. Well Sure

I totally agree that fast food should not be marketed -- or sold -- in schools.

DTH

[burrowowl]

14. Why PE

is necessary. Why isn't it required anymore. In Europe to pass HS exams, you also need point from PE.

[hadrons]

15. I hated PE in school from about the 7th grade on ....

I was sweaty the whole day after

[maxsolomon]

18. showers

its what makes towel snapping great

[happyslug]

38. You were, I wasn't

But all you had to do was show up and get an "A". If you were out of shape you did nothing for there was nothing you could do. I remember Physical Education (PE, the name was becoming popular in the 1970s but the older term "Gym" was also still being used), the coach would bring out the Basketballs, most of the kids grab a ball and started to play, those of us out of shape just stood around for 45 minutes and then dressed for our next class. Swim class was even worse, since I could not swim when everyone did laps I had to wait for them to go by the shadow area where I just stood around (The Gym Teacher did not have time to deal with me at all since he was watching the other Students).

Physical Education was boring and I hated it. The problem was (and is) Gym and PE is tied in with your grade level not your physical ability. Thus if you are NOT in shape you are out of luck. The system is NOT set up for anyone who is not in the same general shape as the students in your same grade (Now if you are suffering from a serious physical or mental problem this can be addressed in a education assessment but those are NOT the students I am talking about here, I am talking about people who are out of shape but have no substantial physical or mental restrictions).

Now my experience with PE is over 30 years ago (the 1970s) and maybe things have changed (Which I doubt). The reason for my dis-belief is the simple fact I have not seen any thing to separate students of different physical capacity from each other not any attempts to help those people who are not in shape. Basically if you are not in shape the School (and by this I mean the PE Teachers) do not really care. I remember the old Presidential Physical Fitness awards Test, I failed every one of the test (When I mean every test I mean every part of the test, i.e. failed the run, failed the sit-ups, failed the pull-ups failed the push-ups etc, yet no offer was extra help was made, all I did was move up a year and failed again. No encouragement no discouragement nothing, you just get marked failed.

That is the basic problem, no one is held accountable for the physical condition of the Students and do not tell me that is the responsibility of the child's parents WHO ARE THE EXPERT HERE? The PE teachers are the Experts.

Sorry about the rant but when you look over the last 30 years I see nothing but more of what I saw in School, less and less geared to help people who need help and more and more to those who do NOT need the help. PE is just the worse example of this phenomenon.

Now the next question is how to fix it. First you have to address the issue of who is fit and unfit. People who are unfit must be given extra support (whether they ask for it or not). The Presidential Fitness test should be use as a guideline (If you pass it great, if you pass most of the sub-test good, but if you fail them all the Student MUST be put into some sort of extra training).

Second, you are going to have to separate PE from sports. Yes that may sound like an impossibility but when I was in school one of the problem with Gym was the Gym teachers and the Coaches of the Athletic teams were one and the same. This caused a problem for the coaches wanted to recruit for their team and thus concentrate on such recruitment (and helping students who would be good members of their team). This caused some problem in that the same coaches did not want to be unpopular so they did want the more fit students wanted them to do. Us unfit were left on the vine to die. You have to remove this dis-incentive to help all students.

Third, they are people who can not dribble or shoot a basket thus some sport other than Basketball has to be played. I know basketball is the most popular indoor game but do something that people who can not dribble or shoot basket or do not make it a required course.

FOURTH, OPEN THE SCHOOLS FOR STUDENTS AFTER HOURS. This was one of my biggest hangups, closing schools after school hours. This not only included inside the school but many of the outside physical areas. I have seen ball fields locked up (Because people may mess up the Grass), I have seen outdoor basketball area locked up (Why someone may steal the ring? I would say basket but most of the Basketball courts I have seen had the ring for the net underneath it, but rarely the net). The weight room in my Suburban school was restricted to the Foot ball team (I went to both a Suburban and inner-city School) while I did go to the weight room in my inner-city school it was a waste for the whole class was in there and you could not get to most of the weights.

On a side note I remember going to School and being told to do my research in the Library, but how could I do so when the Library was closed whenever I was NOT in school? Why have a library when the only time you could get to it was when you had to get permission from a teacher to cut her or his class to go to the library? Yes, Just plain dumb.

Fifth, encourage students to walk and bike to School. I went to a School where it was almost a crime to walk home. How dare you leave early and NOT take your bus (and this was in High School). Ride a bike to School and keep it where? No place to lock it up. My Suburban School had a place for kids to park their car but no place to park a bike (My Inner City School did not even have places for the teachers to park so I view it as fairer).

Sixth, encourage students who go outside the School PE system to exercise, including praising people who did so.

The above will be a start to solving the problem, but I do not see it being adopted for it means addressing the problem of the unfit through encouragement something I found lacking in PE teachers.

[burrowowl]

40. In Europe or at least in France

to get the 2 necessary points, you have to run a certain distance in a given time, climb up a knotted rope, jump a certain distance, swim laps, etc. No A's for just showing up.

[happyslug]

50. France actually PE for EVERYONE.

We in the States just go through the motions. As I was trying to point out, PE must not only be for those who are fit but for those who are unfit. It is the latter who are shortchanged today (Or at least when I was in School 30 years ago and I have NOT heard of any changes since then).

Anyway I would have failed, I could NOT climb a knotted rope (one of the few times the PE teacher "tested" us he had people climb a rope, I was unable to do so). I could not Swim so that was out. Running I could barely do (I did a lot of walking but rarely run in those days). As to the jump I am assuming some sort of Standing Broad Jump, when we did the Presidential Physical Fitness test I was always dead last in my class (And I was the tallest person in my class).

Thus I would have failed. The next question is what would have been done? Would I have been kicked out of school (I failed the test)? or would the teacher have had to do something?

I hate to say this but nothing would have happened for to do something meant doing what I outline in my previous thread, which my school did not want to do. If they kicked me out how would that have helped me? It is nice to have a test but if you do nothing with it, the test is meaningless. Punishing the child for something he or she can NOT do is also useless, thus the point I was trying to make, i.e. someway to resolve the problem instead of hoping it will go away.

[MadisonProgressive]

52. My gym teacher in 7th grade told us what activity to do

then he'd prop himself up in a chair and fall asleep (and snore). When we had volleyball we'd see who could throw the ball closest to him without waking him up.

[MountainLaurel]

53. There's no time for PE or recess

When there are standardized tests to study for. The Washington Post had an article a couple months ago about how recess was being phased out in one county for FIRST GRADERS because it took too much time away from "academics" (i.e., test prep).

[CoffeeCat]

23. Take a look at the food marketed to children...

...It's always a fiasco taking my children to the grocery store because there is SO MUCH prepackaged, junk food targeted to children.

Most of it is total crap--high in sugar, fat--with little nutritional value. I imagine because parents are so "busy" they resort to these convenience foods like:

-Fruit snacks: prepackaged sugar bombs marketed as "healthy" and containing "100 percent fruit juice". Really, they're just sugar.

--Lunch pkgs of cookies, chips, crackers--all fat, sugar.

-Yogurts--Many yogurts are healthy, but the "kids yogurts" contain high sugar and often come with sprinkle/sugar packets.

--Juice--Kids drink so much juice. Even if it's 100 percent juice, it's still horrendously high in sugar. I read that apple juice is just as bad as giving your child soda pop.

--Cereals--one cereal serving is 3/4 cup. Who eats a 3/4 cup of cereal. One serving of most sugar cereal is packed with calories and high fructose syrup.

--Prepackages crap--Lunchables and other prepackaged meats/cheeses. The sodium in these is through the roof. One Lunchables exceeds the RDA of sodium. They're also high in fat.

Vending machines in schools---Contain all of the above junk!

Other convenience foods--Pop Tarts, Toastables, granola bars are all high in sugar and sometimes high in fat. Most granola bars are not healthy!

Fast food--McDonald's Happy Meals and other kids meals are nutritional bombs. Have you seen the "Mighty Kids Meals" from McDonalds? Apparently, a normal serving of one sandwich, fries and a drink wasn't enough for some kids. Now, you can get kids meals with more than one sandwich or a double cheeseburger and larger fries.

Combine all of this bad nutrition with video games, DVD players and you've got sedentary kids eating crap.

That equals fat and unhealthy.

[420inTN]

24. D'uh.

Is this a shock to anyone?

[hopein08]

27. "Obese Will Die Young, Save Social Security" TechNews headline at Google

This is exactly what I was ironically, and somehow sadly, thinking that someone would come up with....

First a caveat, the title in this thread is what was on the Google news homepage, the title that came up when I clicked on the link is "Scientists Say Life Expectancy To Drop." The article has the UPI mark.

Here are a few key snips...

"Obesity could help keep Social Security solvent because people will die younger. "One of the consequences of our prediction is that Social Security does not appear to be in nearly as bad a shape as we think," said study author S. Jay Olshansky."

...

"They noted obesity actually could help keep Social Security solvent because people will die younger.

"One of the consequences of our prediction is that Social Security does not appear to be in nearly as bad a shape as we think," Olshansky said.

"The obese may be inadvertently 'saving' Social Security, but the obese themselves and the healthcare system that cares for them will pay a very heavy price in terms of higher death rates and escalating healthcare costs."

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/news/41465.html

Let's just forget low-carb, low-cal, South Beach, Atkins and all th rest. Maybe we should all live it up and save Social Security at the same time!

:puke::puke::puke:

[amazona]

28. I saw it somewhere this morning

I thought it was MSN.com but it must have dropped off pretty early.

I do think the reality is that most people cannot lose the weight because we don't know the cause of the obesity. People say "soft drinks" but you go to Latin America and everyone is skinny and drinking cokes or beer cuz you can't drink the water. Then people say "well it's the fat" but you go to Paris and again everyone is skinny and no one gives a flying about low-fat.

I have my own crank theory for what is causing this, but I'll spare you the tin foil. I do think there is little reason to believe that people will keep living longer. There is a limit beyond which you get a law of diminishing returns.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[freeplessinseattle]

29. It's the computers! right now I'm sitting here

on my expanding ass eating cashews, when I guess I should be outside enjoying this gorgeous Seattle springlike day, but then I wouldn't be as politically informed and turn into a bimbo exercise fanatic. at least that's my excuse:)

[NMDemDist2]

31. high fructose corn syrup

it's in everything!! go look in your fridge or cupboard, pick a can or jar at random, chances are this ingrediant is listed (usually near the top too)

Some recent studies have reported that "Rats normally live for a good two years," explains Meira Fields, Ph.D., research chemist at the USDA in Beltsville, Maryland. "But the rats in my study fed a high-fructose, low copper diets are dying after 5 weeks." One of the few human studies of low-copper, high-fructose diets was abruptly stopped when 4 of the 24 subjects developed heart-related abnormalities, according to Fields. High fructose diets have also been implicated in the development of adult-onset diabetes. Fructose, especially when combined with other sugars, reduces stores of chromium, a mineral essential for maintaining balanced insulin levels, according to Richard Anderson, Ph.D., lead scientist at the Human Nutrition Research Center in Beltsville, Maryland.

http://www.menshealth.com/features/mensconf/docs/doc31.html

[shanti]

34. yep

high fructose corn syrup is my rant too. but when i tell folks about it, they look at me like i'm insane. *shaking my head* i KNEW there was a link to diabetes, thanks for backing it up!

[HEIL PRESIDENT GOD]

45. Keep at it

I got my brother to stop. I just couldn't stand watching him drowning his potatoes in ketchup, so I lectured him a little. It caught on eventually. The thing is if you give up the crap syrup, you feel better DAY to DAY. It's not a lifelong thing, it's immediate.

[mimitabby]

48. crap syrup??

[mimitabby]

49. oh sorry, corn syrup... crap..

[HEIL PRESIDENT GOD]

44. Not in my kitchen

I've been off the crap completely for about two years

[zalinda]

33. Okay, I've got to ask

What is your crank theory? Mine is stress, plus cheap crap food (think white bread, kraft mac n'cheese, ramen noodles), and tasteless store fruit and vegetables.

zalinda

[SmokingJacket]

39. Well.... French people don't eat a whole bag of chips at one sitting.

Just saying. People in other countries eat tiny portions compared to us.

I blame American eating habits and ass-sitting habits for the problem, 100%.

We eat too much high fructose corn syrup and prepackaged food, and too little whole food. We don't walk anywhere. I live in the most walkable neighborhood in the universe, and most days it's like Mars, there are so few people around.

I'm curious about your tinfoil, though... I'm always interested in other scenarios...

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

43. One can also blame our automobile culture

When I was in Europe I walked or took public transit everywhere I went. It was so good one didn't need a car.

I lost ten lbs in two weeks when I was there. That inspite of drinking a lot of beer and eating a lot of bratwurst.

[WildClarySage]

30. Why not just shoot fat people, then we can shore up SS for years to come?

[iconoclastNYC]

32. Right after they bankrupt Medicare/Medicaid

Stupid stupid stupid. Reminds me of the tobacoo industry saying that smoking was good for third world nations because people would die younger.

Assanine.

[China_cat]

35. Report I saw this morning said

that our kids are going to die younger than we will...by 4 to 9 MONTHS.

Big deal.

[karlrschneider]

37. The NPR report said 5 to 10 years.

Don't shoot the messenger, just telling what they said...

[karlrschneider]

36. Heard that on NPR today coming home from the airport.

Looking at the redneck kids around here, I BELIEVE it. I see more grossly obese people around here than you can shake a Big Mac at...
:eyes: