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Many poor, obese kids actually aren't eating enough, study reveals
Source: Star-telegram by JAN JARVIS Date: 11/19/08

Researchers have long blamed childhood obesity and diabetes, especially in poor neighborhoods, on too much food and too little exercise.

But new findings from a San Antonio study point to another explanation: children living in poverty are obese in part because they don’t eat enough to meet the daily nutritional requirements needed for cell function and metabolism.

A 9-year-old should consume 1,400 to 2,200 calories daily to sustain their growth, said Dr. Roberto Trevino, director of the Social and Health Research Center, a nonprofit organization. But in the study of 1,400 inner-city children, 44 percent were consuming less than 1,400 calories, and 33 percent were obese.

"They were not overeating," Trevino said. "This study shows these kids were not eating enough, and when they did eat it was all the wrong things."

Missing from the children’s diets were four key nutrients: calcium, magnesium, potassium and phosphorus. All play important roles, but magnesium is involved in more than 300 enzymatic reactions in the body that help to spur metabolism and cell function.

When magnesium — found in cooked spinach, black beans, bran cereal and other foods — is missing from the diet, it can predispose an individual to diabetes, Trevino said.

Nearly 7 percent of children in the study screened positive for type 2 diabetes, typically an adult disease, Trevino said.

Without early-age intervention, these children could be facing open-heart surgery at age 25 and will be on dialysis by age 35, he said.

The research, published in the November issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, raises concerns in Texas, which ranks seventh in the nation for the percentage of children living in poverty.

The study brings to the foreground the urgency with which the state needs to address the critical problem of childhood obesity, which is a critical factor in early onset of diabetes and heart disease, said Elena Bastida, associate dean for research at the University of North Texas Health Science Center.

There are neighborhoods in Fort Worth with large numbers of children who share many of the same socio-economic conditions found in the San Antonio study and are at high risk for diabetes, she said.

Last week, a 19-year-old Arlington female died from complications of morbid obesity, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner.

An estimated 35 percent of school-age children in Texas are overweight or obese, according to the Statewide Obesity Task Force.

In the United States, 12 percent of children are overweight, compared with 33 percent in the San Antonio study.

Researchers also found a sedentary lifestyle contributed to the problem. In the study, nearly 90 percent of children scored marginal or unacceptable on physical fitness tests. On average they were watching 3.5 hours of television daily.

To address the problem in Tarrant County, the United Way, YMCA and other organizations have created programs aimed at educating families about diet and exercise.

The American Heart Association and the YMCA of Metropolitan Fort Worth recently joined together to offer the Go Healthy curriculum to 1,300 kids a week, in 56 after-school facilities. The program encourages children to exercise more and eat healthy foods, but it also gets the whole family involved, said Tony Shuman, president of the YMCA of Metropolitan Fort Worth.

"A kid can spend an hour on the treadmill, but if mom and dad stop to get a bucket of fried chicken on the way home, everything has just gone out the window," he said.

Also addressing the health issue is the Childhood Obesity Project at Mitchell Boulevard Elementary in southeast Fort Worth, developed by FitFuture, a Tarrant County initiative created by the United Way. The program, which teaches children how to live healthier lives, also monitors their progress.

Addressing the childhood obesity issue takes an ongoing commitment from people throughout the community, Shuman said.

"There’s never going to be a start date and end date for the obesity problem," he said.

Obesity and children

Highlights from the study of 1,400 inner-city children living in poverty:

• 33 percent of children living in poverty in Bexar County are obese; 7 percent screened positive for Type 2 diabetes.

• Texas ranks seventh nationally in the percentage of children living in poverty.

• The study found that 44 percent of children consumed below the daily minimum nutritional requirements.

• In Texas the cost of obesity-related illnesses are projected to rise from $3.3 billion in 2005 to $15.8 billion by 2025.

Source: Social & Health Research Center

Vitamin-rich foods

• Calcium: Milk, yogurt, cheese, pinto beans, almonds and broccoli

• Phosphorus: Baked beans, whole wheat bread, cauliflower, ham and eggs

• Potassium: Sweet potato, tuna, bananas, spinach, peaches

• Magnesium: Ready to eat bran cereal, cooked spinach and black beans

Source: Social & Health Research Center

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