Workout
Today we work on squats!
Front Squat – 4 x 4 @ 80% of your 1RM
Back Squat – 4 x 4 @ 80@ of your 1RM

TitanFit Trainers WOD
Add 10 – 15 Pull-ups between each set of Squats.

Health officials: Childhood obesity epidemic could bankrupt the country

by Jeff McShan / 11 News khou.com

Posted on May 11, 2010 at 8:55 PM

HOUSTON—Deputy Surgeon General Dr. David Rutstein has said that childhood obesity is not only a problem for the children themselves – it’s a problem that could bankrupt our whole country one day.

That’s why everyone should care about the health of kids like 10-year-old Loana Prichardo of southwest Houston.

“Look, we are all going to pay for this outcome. We have to stop thinking about this as their problem or our problem. This is a national problem,” Rutstein said.

In a report released this year called “Vision for a Healthy Nation,” Rutstein said childhood obesity has nearly tripled and is now an epidemic in America.

“We now have a situation where the wealthiest nation on Earth might be spending a third of everything it produces to care for chronic diseases,” Rutstein said.

There are so many reasons why.

America’s children are eating high-calorie, good-tasting, inexpensive foods. At some schools, physical education classes have been reduced or even eliminated.

And in some cases, crime has played a role. Because of safety concerns, many kids aren’t spending enough time outdoors and aren’t allowed to walk to school.

In low-income areas, healthy foods are often not available or affordable.

That’s one of the many problems Dr. Dana Smith of the Greater Houston Area Health Education Center is trying to tackle.

“Making sure that we have access to the foods, healthy foods, and everyone in their neighborhoods can get equal access to the foods that are healthy,” Smith said.

She’s been working with other social workers, getting kids like Loana Prichardo in to see doctors.

Before she saw Dr. Elisa Castillo at Texas Children’s Hospital, Loana was eating a lot of tortillas, rice, beans and potatoes. She was severely overweight. Now, she’s completely changed her diet and lifestyle.

KHOU gave Loana’s mother a small video camera so she could document all the changes taking place at home.

Just as the doctor ordered, Loana has been working out and eating better.

In fact, she’s lost 20 pounds.

She’s spending time in the backyard playing with her siblings and friends, rather than sitting in front of the TV.

Castillo said she’s already seeing high cholesterol in kids as young as 2 years old.

Older kids have come in with serious liver problems.

“They can be close to liver failure, because they have so much, basically, fat to process, if I may keep it in simple terms, that their liver actually goes into failure,” Castillo said.

She believes it’s time for parents to wake up.

Smith agrees.

“What we really have to do is help people think differently about the food they eat,” she said.

In the end, the kids aren’t the ones in control. They don’t make the decisions, buy the food or decide on their own how much TV they’re going to watch.

That is up to the parents.

And if they don’t wake up, we may all pay the price in the not-too-distant future.