In Ohio, xx percentage of children are obese.
In Montgomery County, 24 percent of children 2 to 14 are obese.
Nationally, 17 percent of children 2 to 19 are obese, and a third are overweight or obese.
Dayton-area faith leaders pledged Tuesday to join a national initiative to fight childhood obesity.
Faith United to End Childhood Obesity, a multi-denominational coalition organized by Save the Children’s Campaign for Healthy Kids, has joined with First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” campaign to focus on better nutrition and more physical activity to counteract increasing obesity and overweight among America’s youth. Dayton-area faith leaders came together at St. Charles Borromeo Roman Catholic Church in Kettering to kick off the initiative.
“It’s easy to comment on the problem. It’s easier to point the finger of blame,” said Bishop Craig S. High, pastor of Bethesda Temple Apostolic Church in Dayton. “But what has to be done is to address the situation. That has to be done. We have to take action.”
In Montgomery County, about 24 percent of children ages 2 to 14 are obese, and about 11 percent of children under 5 enrolled in the county’s WIC program are considered obese, according to county health data. Nationally, a third of children are overweight or obese. High called it “a grave situation.”
Ohio ranks 13th nationally for adult obesity, and a report released in September warned that almost 60 percent of adults in the state could be obese by 2030.
Obese children are more likely to grow into obese adults, said assistant U.S. Surgeon General Dr. James M. Galloway, a cardiologist, adding that health effects linked to obesity show up at early ages, including changes in heart health and the development of type 2 diabetes.
“As a cardiologist, when you see a child who comes in at 7 or 8 or 9 years old with obesity and secondary diabetes at that age, it’s pretty moving,” Galloway said.
Faith leaders have a long history of health advocacy, said Vincent DeMarco, national director of Faith United Against Childhood Obesity. Church leaders from across the nation came together to fight tobacco use, an effort that ended in a 2009 federal law giving the Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate tobacco products, he said.
“It couldn’t have happened without the faith community,” DeMarco said.
“The childhood obesity problem is terrible. It’s an epidemic. But it’s not something that we can’t defeat,” he said.
Faith leaders can make a difference by making small changes in their activities that set examples for children and families, said Sharon Becker, of Good Samaritan Hospital’s Health Ministries Program.
”We can look at simple things, like when we have church activities, what are our meals like?” she said. “When we expose children to healthy choices, they learn they can make those choices for themselves.”
Andrew Hysell, program director of the Campaign for Healthy Kids, called childhood obesity “a moral issue” and it’s the right issue for the faith community to take on.
Obesity rates tend to be higher among lower-income families, who often do not have access to healthier food, including fruits and vegetables, and safe places to exercise, he said. Faith communities can help change that, especially if faith leaders work with school and health officials in their communities, he said.
“Childhood obesity is a 21st century health epidemic,” Hysell said. “If something’s not done today, these children could live shorter lives than their parents, the first generation in modern times to do so.”
Faith leaders are obliged to protect the children in their flocks, said Rev. Terry Heck, pastor of Bellbrook United Methodist Church, and her church focuses on including children in its health initiatives.
“This is a very serious social justice issue, as well as a health issue,” she said. “Will our children grow up to be as old as I will be?”
Montgomery County Health Commissioner Jim Gross said all segments of a community need to work together to combat obesity.
About 4,000 people a year in Montgomery County die from chronic diseases, and obesity plays a role in many of them, he said, including high blood pressure, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. Public Health - Dayton & Montgomery County in 2008 kicked off its “Get Up Montgomery County” initiative to combat obesity in the community, and county health officials are happy to work with the faith community. “We see the two as being perfect partners,” he said.
The partnership aims to sign on 1,000 additional faith leaders by the end of the year.
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