Thursday, December 6, 2007

More Bad News on Childhood Obesity


Things are not getting better. The Kansas City Star Reports:
Two research studies published today link childhood and adolescent obesity to substantially greater risks of heart disease. That means in the years ahead, thousands more people may be suffering heart attacks or chronic chest pain, or dying before they reach their 50th birthday.

and

“The prospects if nothing is done are potentially catastrophic,” warned David Ludwig, director of the weight-management program at Children’s Hospital Boston and an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, who did not participate in the studies. “The economic costs will be staggering.”

So now we have a public health issue, a conservation issue, and an economic issue. groups like those in the link list, and folks like Rich Louv are speaking out every day. What's it going to take for maybe one Presidential candidate to start talking about the issue of nature deficit? What's it going to take to really ignite this issue with the public? The fuel is all there.

More here.