As a pediatrician for nearly four decades, Lerer estimates he has seen the obesity rate in children younger than 3 skyrocket as much as 300 percent — leading to serious health problems from an early age.
“Thirty years ago with Type 2 diabetes in children, I bet you I would see one case every five to 10 years,” he said. “We currently diagnose Type 2 diabetes in children under age 18 at a rate of maybe one to two a month.”
The results of the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s “F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s Future 2010” show adults aren’t faring much better.
The report says 29 percent of Ohio’s adults are considered obese, a rate Lerer said is probably consistent with Butler County.
“We need to get people eating better and exercising more and it needs to become a part of normal life,” Lerer said “Right now eating bags of potato chips and drinking a six-pack of sugary soda per day is accepted as normal. We need to change that.”
James Marks of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation said obesity is not just a health concern. He said companies consider weight statistics when they decided where to locate.
Mississippi is the nation’s fattest state followed by Alabama and Tennessee, which tied.
Jeff Levi, director of Trust for America’s Health, said the safety of neighborhoods, education, access to grocery stores and economic disparities are among factors that contribute to obesity in states like Ohio.
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