We are facing the first generation of children who likely will have a shorter life expectancy than their parents.
It’s not because of some new strain of virus.
It’s not because of a lack of available health care.
While starvation is handily claiming the lives of adults and children in Third World nations, our own progeny face an early demise because of overeating and a lack of exercise.
Here are some facts:
— Americans are gaining weight at a pace that likely will make most adults overweight or obese by 2030, according to a new study published online in the July issue of Obesity.
— Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found that nearly 86 percent of Americans older than 18 are likely to be overweight or obese by 2030.
— Health care costs related to these excess pounds is expected to bulk up, as well, doubling each decade to a projected $900 billion in 2030. (Translation: nearly $1 of every $6 spent on health care will be a result of the expanding waistlines.)
— The rates of overweight and obesity in South Carolina are among the highest in the nation. In fact, the state ranked an impressive No. 7 according to recent data obtained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.
If it’s any consolation, we are not alone. Southern states — from No. 1 Mississippi through No. 10 Texas — have the distinction of holding all the top spots.
Yes, physical activity is at an all-time low nationwide thanks to the entertainment and convenience value of modern technology. Couple that with vending machines in our schools, children who think chickens have fingers, parents who are so nutritionally ignorant that they actually believe French fries and ketchup meet the daily vegetable requirement, and a buffet generation that feasts on an unprecedented bounty of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, fried vegetables, biscuits, macaroni and cheese and ... well, folks, we’re in trouble. And don’t forget the sweet tea. There’s not much comfort to be found in comfort food, after all, is there?
This is a new kind of War Between the States, and we stand to lose dramatically. The first shots have been fired, but the enemy is ourselves.
And our potato chip-gorging, video-addicted children are in the line of fire.
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