Researchers are most concerned with the growing threat to public health.
Francine R. Kaufman, director of the Center for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, said the diabetes program there is overflowing and can't meet the needs of the numbers of children referred to it.
"We are seeing kids who are morbidly obese," Kaufman said. "These kids have apnea when they go to sleep at night; they have to go on breathing devices just like adults. They have problems with their livers that we had never seen before in kids that eventually may lead to cirrhosis and the need for a transplant. We're seeing irregular periods and hormone imbalances that may impact fertility."
The growing levels of overweight children "reflect conditions in schools and communities that encourage children to eat and drink unhealthy foods and beverages and that limit their physical activity," the study asserted. Children and parents are enticed by supermarket displays, the convenience of fast food and mouth-watering television ads proffering fatty, sugary goodies. "We're looking at what could be an unending cycle of morbidity and disease," Kaufman said.
Families like that of Rafael and Maria Navarez and their four children are fighting to combat such harmful influences. Rafael, 55, said the family was stunned when oldest son Rafael, 14, was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, which is tied to being overweight. Neither he nor his wife has a family history of obesity, Navarez said.
But they knew the kids were exposed to poor food choices at school and got little exercise. They were reluctant to let them go out in their Boyle Heights neighborhood to play by themselves. The senior Rafael's part-time job as a grocery clerk did not allow for extravagances like fresh fruit and vegetables every day.
After doctors expressed concern about 8-year-old Sergio's weight and referred the family to the Childrens Hospital program, they got serious about improving their health.
"I don't want to blame the schools," Rafael said. "It's up to us as parents to stop letting kids eat bad food at school or outside school, and now we make their lunch."
The whole family supports the younger Rafael and attends clinic sessions in which they get weighed and have their blood sugar tested. They walk together several times a week and are learning to kick bad habits.
