Public Health and Pediatrics

Too fat or starving? Which is it?

I’m confused. 

On one hand I read that there is an obesity epidemic that threatens our very way of life, or at least our life expectancy.  Predictions abound that the “bulk” of us will be overweight in a few years.  Public health experts warn that this concern is reaching down into the pediatric age group as well.  This article states that “fully” one out of seven low income kids is obese.  Clearly this would appear to be a public health problem.

On the other hand, there also appears to be a hunger epidemic in America.  The news is replete with stories wherein children are going hungry on a daily basis.  Some estimates are that one in five children is struggling with what is known as “food insecurity” (however that is defined…).  Is this a true representation of the state of nutrition in our nation’s children, or does it imply something else?

Can both of these epidemics be true?  I don’t pretend to be able to provide an answer to the obesity problem, but I do know that if the hunger epidemic truly exists, then federal programs such as free school lunches, SNAP (food stamps), and WIC are monumental failures.  Digging into the weeds of the statistics of hunger, one finds that it is more likely that the true “hunger rate” is between one and two percent. 

It is interesting that two avenues of progressive thought seem to be vying in a paradoxical battle for control or dollars.  There are the forces that dutifully preach that the obesity epidemic must be curbed, and some of the means to curb it could mean dictating what may or may not be eaten or what medical care will be paid for.  Then there are the opposing groups that bemoan the fact that millions of children are going to bed hungry every night, and that we must pony up for even more governmental food programs.  I wonder who is going to win this one.

So which is it?  Can both scenarios be true?  Are too many poor kids too fat?  Or are too many poor kids starving?  Maybe if the fat kid would split his milkshake and Whopper with the hungry kid, then both problems would be solved…

 Dr. K

The blog muse- why Johnny can't read, or write, or spell, or...

My wife is a source for many of my postings; in fact, I refer to her as my “blog muse”, especially when I am struggling with writer’s block.  When I am striving to come up with a topic I will often text her and she will reply with some anecdote from work that brings a problem sharply into focus.  In her capacity as a librarian for an intermediate school for children in grades 4-6, she provides me almost daily with a rich substrate from which to develop topics concerning children and the field of pediatrics.  She came home the other day with an insight that is laced with common sense, yet profound it its way.

 

Much has been written about the poor performance of our education system.   Evidence of this can be found everywhere.  I am often driven nearly stir crazy by stories of lazy, incompetent, and abusive teachers and administrators.  I am not apologizing for them by any means.  Many on either side of the political spectrum debate the pros and cons of teachers unions, charter schools, poor teacher preparation and many other education issues.   

What my wife has learned in dealing with a school system that has its share of incompetent educators is that the most reliable predictor of student success is parental involvement.  Simply put, the kids that have a parent involved at home and a vested interest in how well a child is learning are the kids that will be successful.  There is a wonderful monogram , published by the Michigan Department of Education, that ties parental involvement and academic success together. It bears close reading.  Again, it states the obvious but necessary point that is often missed nowadays.  Parents must be involved.  It seems that the disintegration of the family in our society has many ramifications.  The lack of an adequate education of the next generation seems to be one of them.

It has been said that “no…success can compensate for failure in the home.”  It would also seem that no amount of education reform can compensate for failure in the home either.

Dr. K