Obesity No. 1 problem cited in national kids' health poll

What is novel H1N1 (swine flu)?

Concern about obesity continues to rise and outrank all other health issues as the top concern for children in the United States, a University of Michigan study released Monday reports.

The C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health shows that adults who believe childhood obesity is a big problem in the nation rose from 35 percent of adults in 2008 to 42 percent of adults in 2009.

For the first time, the national poll also indicates obesity is a top concern among whites, blacks and Hispanics. Last year, for example, obesity ranked highest with whites, while blacks ranked teen pregnancy highest. Hispanics put smoking in the top spot.

Dr. Matthew Davis, associate professor of pediatrics, internal medicine and public policy at the University of Michigan, says this year's poll suggests parents finally are getting the message that obesity is a serious condition that can affect their children for life.

When obesity starts early in life, the chances of getting diabetes and high blood pressure and heart disease all go up. Those are the biggest health problems that we as Americans face, and they are all strongly related to obesity.

Experts call Detroit a food desert: More than half of its residents must travel at least twice as far to reach the nearest grocery store as they do to a fast-food restaurant or convenience store. Many shop at liquor stores and corner markets that carry few, if any, fresh fruits and vegetables.

Some who have studied the city say people in developing countries can more easily get fresh produce than they can in Detroit.

The lack of fresh food is a public health problem in Detroit, which has one of the nation’s highest obesity rates. Other cities also are struggling with obesity, diabetes and other illnesses tied to diets high in calories and sugar. They’re trying a variety of ways to solve the problem, from adding pushcart vendors who sell fresh fruits and vegetables in New York to a moratorium on new fast-food restaurants in part of Los Angeles.

What’s worse is that people are beginning to discriminate against those who are obese, all because they feel like obese people eat too much and don’t get enough exercise.

Fattest cities in USA - Detroit, Houston...

Houston is now the second fattest city in the USA. After winning the USA fatty league for the last three years, Houston has been pushed down to second place by Detroit.

Men's Fitness magazine compared 25 US cities (February issue). Detroit came first (scarcity of gyms, lots of TV viewing and worsening commuting times).

Men's Fitness uses 14 categories to determine the fattest cities, including the number of health clubs and sporting goods stores and the number of fast food and ice cream and doughnut shops per capita, air quality, climate, television viewing trends and availability of health care.