The Betty Ann Ong Foundation
Childhood Overweight and Obesity
The Problem
Over the past 30 years, the rate of obesity in the United States has more than doubled for preschoolers and adolescents, and it has more than tripled for children ages 6 to 11. Obese children get a head start on health problems such as diabetes and heart disease, often carrying these problems into an obese adulthood. If this trend continues, obesity may soon top smoking as the nation's most preventable cause of death. Overweight and obesity are major risk factors for chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, osteoporosis, and some cancers. Some children may develop sleep apnea, mature early, have increased LDL cholesterol, and run the risk of liver and gall bladder diseases.
The epidemic of childhood overweight and obesity is due to the increasing number of children that are consuming an excess of harmful calories, and getting insufficient exercise. Increased consumption of fast food, junk food and soda and decreased consumption of fruit, vegetables and milk combine with reduced physical activity lead to disastrous results.
The good news is that the introduction of an American Life style change of a healthy diet and regular physical activity at any time, from childhood to old age, can promote health and impact cancer risk.
The Solution
Many children in today's society do not have opportunities to experience outdoor activities either because of their life style or the workload of their parents. While the Betty Ann Ong Foundation does not expect to replace the role of the parents in their children's life, we can provide educational opportunities for life style changes.
Many parents and children do not participate in outdoor activities simply because they do not know how. Having never gone fishing they do not know the basics of fishing. Our mission is to provide opportunities with corporate help to teach parents and children the ways to the outdoors.
One of the greatest health problems facing children is childhood obesity. Having little knowledge of healthful eating habits they resort to fast foods. By developing educational programs using media presentation formats the Betty Ann Ong Foundation will undertake to readjust the American Lifestyle. We can't reach everyone but we can reach many.
Download Childhood Obesity brochure (PDF format). PDF files can be viewed using the free Adobe Reader software.