Posted on 05/24/2006 2:55:45 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
(AP) CHICAGO Older American teenagers living in poverty have grown fatter at a higher rate than their peers, according to research that seems to underscore the unequal burden of obesity on the nation's poor.
"Today the percentage of adolescents age 15-17 who are overweight is about 50 percent higher in poor as compared to non-poor families, a difference that has emerged recently," said Johns Hopkins' sociologist Richard Miech, the study's lead author.
Obesity rates among all teens climbed substantially during the study, which covered 30 years.
But the great divide according to income occurred most notably among the 15- to 17-year-old age group.
That led one outside expert to challenge the findings.
Rand Corp. economist Roland Sturm said it seems implausible that younger teens would differ so much from older teens.
Even if they do, he said, "It seems a rather secondary issue compared to the general trend in weight gain across all youth."
Miech argued that older teens generally have more autonomy to buy what they want and to determine their own activity levels, which he said might explain the results.
And Sturm and other experts said the study's underlying message about obesity and poverty is sound.
The study appears in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.
It is based on data from 10,800 youngsters ages 12 to 17 who participated in four nationally representative health surveys conducted from 1971 to 2004.
The researchers determined poverty levels using family income and the U.S. Census Bureau's poverty threshold.
In the early 1970s, about 4 percent of poor youngsters ages 15 to 17 were severely overweight, compared with about 5 percent of teens who weren't poor.
By the early 2000s, those rates jumped to 23 percent of the poor and 14 percent of other kids, the researchers said.
The results contrast with recent research suggesting that while the poor are most likely to be overweight, obesity rates among U.S. adults have climbed fastest in recent decades among those with annual salaries over $60,000.
Miech said both could be right because eating and exercise habits are different for adults and adolescents.
Over the past decade, the percentage of calories from sweetened drinks has grown by more than 20 percent among kids in the 15-17 age group - an increase concentrated among the poor, he said.
"We also find that physical inactivity increases with age in adolescence, as well as the probability of skipping breakfast," said Miech. "Both these factors are more likely to be found among the poor and are also associated with overweight."
Economic differences have been linked to other health problems too, including AIDS, cardiovascular disease and some cancers.
The disproportionate rates emerge as wealthier people seek medical care and make lifestyle changes, while the poor do not, said Barry Popkin, a nutrition scientist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The study shows that this trend "is emerging in late adolescence and just building into adulthood," Popkin said.
The results also show the need for healthful resources in low-income neighborhoods, said Dr. Rebecca Unger, a Chicago pediatrician who works with a group seeking to lower obesity rates among Chicago children.
Adam Drewnowski, a University of Washington researcher, said the disparity will persist unless the underlying problem, poverty, is also addressed.
"The campaign against obesity and the struggle against poverty are, in fact, one and the same," he said. "...Healthier diets cost more," he said, and access to physical activity "depends on how much money you've got."
Access to physical activity? Ya gotta be kiddin' me.
Apparently it costs money to run around the block these days....
If they are so poor then how are they managing to get so fat? Being fat indicates to me that they are OVER eating, and the wrong things at that.
Food stamp program perhaps?
And end the "milk carton" paranoia. No one really wants to kidnap your rotten kid, so let him walk to school.
so let me understand this, you have to be rich to to exercises, you have to be rich to have common sense and KNOW that if you eat junk food you will get fat????????
Excuses, excuses, excuses..........
Perhaps the same things that cause people to be poor also cause them to be fat?
Like Laziness?
In the good old days (early 1970s), we used to run around and play games in the neighborhood parks and such. Rode bicycles for miles.
Liberal PC and the fear of crime has killed all that.
Alternate hypothesis:
Irresponsible adults tend to be poor.
Irresponsible adults tend to be irresponsible about encouraging good health practices in their children.
TADA! (Where's my grant money!?)
Although, I think phys ed. should be a little different. Maybe an intro to sports, then let the kids play what they want. I feel so sorry for the kids running the track in 90+ degree weather. "But, don't sit down even though you're ready to pass out. You might faint."
Yep, I see it all the time. Kids will be running and playing, and a gang of Liberals will come along and stop it. Shameful.
Everyone could understand this if they saw what was served at High Schools for breakfast and lunch. As a high school teacher, I have observed that the majority of teenagers eat sausage biscuits and pancakes with syrup for breakfast and large amounts of french fries and pizza for lunch, no veggies or fruits. Free breakfast and lunch is going to cost us more down the road. Cutting out PE courses is also a major problem.
"Race" is the dog that isn't barking here. There are cultural differences between races, overall, and these include dietary patterns as well as behavioral patterns that affect wealth and poverty.
("Finish your sushi and do your homework!")
end sarcasm.
There are some places where it is not safe to be outside unless you are in a group.
This does not however, prevent you from doing setups or other exercises. You just have to be creative.
Same thing was going on in the good old days of the 1950s, we walked, ran, swam, biked etc. We ate a lot also but we burned it off in exercise. There wasn't anything else to do, except watch a little TV and that was only for short periods of time, not for hours every day!
Exercise is the key. If you sit around, you will get fat unless you eat next to nothing. Eating things such as potato chips etc. only makes the problem worse and you get fat faster, however, regardless of your diet , if you exercise you will not get fat, or at least not as fat!
I sent this email to Dr. Drewnowski, and I would appreciate it if others would send him something of the like. As an avid runner, his comments made me very suspicious of his objectivity.
Dr. Drewnowski,
It appears that you've forsaken any attempt at objectivity by trying to corrolate a lack of opportunity of physical activity to money. To demonstrate that anyone, no matter there wealth, can be physically active for no cost outside of opportunity cost (which would cost more to those who are economically better off, anyway) I present you a picture of an ancient activity - one that has existed even before mankind. We call it running.
http://www.barrycornelius.com/running/images/2003lobley.jpg
BTW, his email is adamdrew@u.washington.edu
We need a focused federal program to send treadmills and Metracal to the inner city. It's For The Children!!
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