Obesity in kids

A multipart exploration of the problem

By Culinate staff

July 1, 2011

A few weeks ago, the Seattle Times devoted a package of articles to the problem of childhood obesity. The lead article profiled numerous kids with weight and eating issues, then discussed the physiology and psychology of eating as well as the growth in recent decades of both food products designed just for kids and the marketing tsunamis that overwhelm them.

A second article detailed how local families were trying to battle the junk-food system, while a third discussed public-health campaigns against obesity at the federal, state, and local levels. The bigger problem? Americans — not just their kids — simply don’t eat well:

After all, even those with the best access aren’t eating their vegetables. Most of us get about half of what’s recommended, research shows. The reason for this is both intuitive and well-studied. Eating decisions are driven by taste. Then cost, Drewnowski says. Then convenience. “Health,” he says, “is last.”