Children's Health We ve made great strides in improving the health of our nation during the past two decades, yet the health of America s children is still of great concern. In all measures of a healthy lifestyle, our children are failing. Studies show that children s diets still exceed the daily recommendations for total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol and don t meet the daily recommendations for vitamins and minerals. Young people are less physically active and more overweight than they were two decades ago. More youth are smoking and at earlier ages.
Obese children are more likely to become obese adults.
Over 84 percent of children consume too much total fat and over 91 percent consume too much saturated fat. 91 percent of children between the ages of 6 and 11 don t eat the recommended 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. A quarter of all American children spend 4 or more hours in front of a television set - 48 percent of girls and 26 percent of boys are not getting exercise on a regular basis. Left unchecked, these problems will lead to a generation of unhealthy adults at greater risk for multiple chronic diseases and for cancer. We understand that attitudes and habits formed in childhood can strongly influence a person s future health.