Generation Z And Obesity

Health care has a huge impact on our country’s economic status, accounting for 17+% of the GDP and growing steadily. As the baby boomer generation gets older, we are faced with an even bigger drain on health care resources. But wait for it – wait until the youth of today, Generation Z as they are called – get a little older. If you think the problems are big now, wait for another 10 to 15 years.

Obesity (and a generalized lack of fitness) is taking its toll on the youth of America.

Ross Perot said it quite nicely back in his first election infomercial: “In America, we have a problem”. I just don’t think that Perot realized that this is where the problem would really exist.

The numbers are simply astounding. Perhaps “depressing” would be a better term.

Childhood obesity is rising. Based on data from the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention [1], 16 percent of children (over 9 million kids) aged 6-19 years are overweight or obese - a number that has tripled since 1980. Another 15 percent were considered at risk of becoming overweight. But it gets worse.

How so, you might ask? Over the past three decades, the childhood obesity rate has more than doubled for preschool children aged 2-5 years and adolescents aged 12-19 years, and it has more than tripled for children aged 6-11 years. Overweight adolescents have a 70 percent chance of becoming overweight or obese adults. This increases to 80 percent if one or more parents is overweight or obese.

In Texas, the numbers are staggering. A 2010 report card on childhood health revealed that one in four Texas schoolchildren is overweight or obese, with 29% of the students having an unhealthy body mass index. The study also found that 44% of students did not meet the standard for cardiovascular, or aerobic, fitness. San Marcos, Texas – located just south of Austin - ranked last in the Central Texas districts as being the most unfit school in the region. San Marcos ranked last with 63% of its students failing the six item Fitnessgram fitness evaluation (consisting of a running test, curl-ups (sit-ups), push-ups, flexibility, height and weight and estimated body fat measurement).

Don’t worry, Texans – the problem is nationwide. In Georgia, nearly one in three kids ages 10 to 17 have a weight problem, with just 55% of middle school children and 44% of high school students meeting the CDC recommendations for physical activity. In California, an average of 34% of middle and high school students met all six fitness goals in 2009 as compared to 32% in 2008, 29% in 2007, and 28% in 2006.

There was a time when physical education was a mandatory aspect of elementary and high school education. Physical education classes are now on the decline, and the data obviously confirms it. Only Illinois has a statewide requirement for daily physical education.

There was a time when parents were actively involved in promoting physical activity with their children. There was a time when most children wanted to be outdoors – and if their parents kept them indoors, it was because of bad weather or you were grounded. But nowadays, children have become far too happy staying indoors, playing video games, and in many cases, becoming mini-adults.

Kids simply aren't moving on the planet like they were when I was growing up. And they are becoming more obese in the process. I can only wonder how this is going to impact our nationwide health status in the next few decades.

Baby boomers are showing us the tip of the iceberg in terms of the massive explosion of health care costs. Yes, the generations that follow will pay dearly for them. But if we don’t start getting our children more active, the long-term health problems of Generation Z will far outweigh (and out-cost) the Boomers.

[1] "Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity Among Children and Adolescents: United States, 1999-2002"; Oct. 6, 2004

Photo credits: Wikipedia