As kids head back to school this fall, textbooks are not the only thing weighing them down. Americans have struggled with weight problems for years but only recently has childhood obesity reached such epidemic proportions that officials are treating it as a health crisis. Federal agencies have stepped up efforts to fight ballooning waistlines, but bringing discussion of the issue from the doctor's office to the dinner table has been a slow process. Poor diet and lack of exercise are still the culprits in weight gain, and technology is not making things any easier, says Judith Young, executive director of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education.
Delivery is guaranteed to take less than an hour.
Kids have begun to socialize in cyberspace and opt for burning CDs at home instead of calories on the playing field. Only 50 percent of those bwteen 12 and 21 regularly participate in vigorous physical activity, according to CDC statistics. Participation in physical education is also waning. High school enrollment in daily phys ed classes dropped from 42 percent in 1991 to 25 percent in 1995. Candy bar sizes have followed a similar trend.