Dad Daze: the rise and danger of child obesity

On more than one occasion, I’ve been told that I have unusually active children. None of my four kids plays video games, and each one much prefers hiking, biking and competitive sports over indoor activity.

I can relate. When I was a child, being stuck in the house was akin to a punishment. The great outdoors was liberating. I dreamed of living in an adventurer’s paradise such as Spokane but made due playing on a city landscape.

Thanks to a very active schedule, my kids have always been in shape. However, a skiing accident my daughter Jillian suffered when she was a senior in high school ultimately altered her physique.

After experiencing a spill that was of “Wide World of Sports” proportion, Jillian didn’t just suffer the agony of defeat. My eldest tore her anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament a few months later while dancing. But her surgeon noted that her injury was due to the trauma she experienced on the slopes.

Surgery was less than a month before starting college in New York City. With hitting the books, working and limited mobility, Jillian began putting on weight. “It’s so weird dealing with this,” Jillian said about her added weight. “But there are so many people my age and younger who are heavier than they should be.”

Being so hyper-focused on my children and around youth athletes, I didn’t notice it like I should have a few years ago. After Jillian noted the big battle of the bulge across America, it hit me how different it was growing up a generation ago. Child obesity was uncommon in my neck of the woods in the Northeast.

Today, it’s a very different story, particularly during a pandemic. Not long after Jillian’s accident, I asked my son Milo’s pediatrician what bothers him most. “Children who are obese just breaks my heart,” Dr. Steven Gewirtzman said. “It’s preventable, but so many children suffer from obesity, and it’s getting worse.”

The percentage of obese children and teens jumped from 19% pre-pandemic to 22%, according to a study from the Centers for Disease and Prevention, and the rate at which body mass index increased doubled.

Research from the University of Georgia suggests that could spell bad news for children’s cardiovascular systems now and in the future. The study, which was published in Pediatric Obesity, measured abdominal visceral fat levels and arterial stiffness in more than 600 children, adolescents and young adults.

Visceral fat is found in the abdomen and infiltrates vital organs. Arterial stiffness forces the cardiovascular system to work harder to pump blood throughout the body. Joseph Kindler, the co-author of the study, notes how dangerous obesity is for children.

“The stiffer the artery, the faster blood is going to move through those blood vessels, and that can be detrimental and overstress our system,” Kindler said. “As these issues build up, unfortunately, it’s sort of this game of dominoes. You tip one over, and the rest of the systems start being overtaxed.

“That’s when the pervasive health issues can occur.” Like Gewirtzmann said, obesity is preventable. Take a page from former NFL star Vernon Davis, who hosts self-styled workouts on the internet. “It’s pretty simple,” Davis said about getting into shape. “The first thing you do is burn more than you consume.”

Apparently, it’s easier said than done considering how many children are sedentary. What’s worked for my children is simply finding a physical activity they’re passionate about – skating, running and catch have always appealed to all four of my kids.

When they were younger, they reminded me of puppies since they were up for any vigorous activity, especially if it was fun. Parents burn off energy, as well. The benefit of children who are active is that it becomes part of their lifestyle. My kids can’t imagine life without working their bodies in some fashion.

Even if we can’t revert back to how it was a generation ago when more kids were outside than indoors, hopefully parents will encourage their kids to move around and find a physical activity they will engage in on a regular basis. Their lives will depend on it.