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The Public Needs to Know

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The Public Needs To Know
Arlette Perez
Professor Traci Wilmoth
English Composition 115
2/07/2012

Childhood obesity has tripled in the past 30 years. In 1980, the obesity rate of 6-11 year olds was 6.5%; in 2008 it tripled to 19.6%. For toddlers and preschoolers aged 2-5, the obesity levels have risen from 5% to 12.4% in the same amount of time. Schools do not generally provide healthy food options, and kids with meal assistance plans have no choice but to consume unhealthy food items. Even kids with options often have an array of processed snacks, fried foods, sweets and sodas to purchase, and very few healthy options (Spark 2009). It is time to change the way our youth eats. According to a recent Brookings Institute report, health economists have estimated that obesity will cost the U.S. about $215 billion. The report identified the four major categories that contribute to that amount: direct medical costs, productivity costs, transportation costs and human capital costs (Hammond, Levine, 2010). In other words, obesity has a direct effect on four areas that usually have a direct effect on the American economy. With more than 60 percent of Americans considered at least overweight and one-third considered obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it will not be long before obesity is an expected portion of taxpayer money (CDC.gov). Obesity does affect the economy, healthcare and unemployment. And it will take more than grassroots movements in certain regions of the country to make a change. Unless the federal government makes a concerted effort to combat obesity, especially in the younger generation, Americans will become victims of a lethal societal norm.
President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are firm advocates of Let’s Move. Let’s Move! Is a comprehensive initiative, launched by the First Lady, dedicated to solving the

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