Our Children Are At Risk

Obesity, diabetes and asthma are on the rise.

Virtually each generation of parents hopes and assumes that their children will have a more comfortable and longer life than they. But that may not be true today. Our children and adolescents have more diseases today than did their parents at a comparable age.

Results from a 2003–2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), using measured heights and weights, indicated that 17 percent of U.S. youths between ages two and 19 years were overweight or obese.

1199ers at the yearly Asthma Walk in New York City.

Overweight and obese children are at increased risk for many diseases and health conditions, including diabetes, which is reaching epidemic proportions in the U.S. According to a projection by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in three of today’s first graders in the United States is expected to become diabetic in their lifetimes. For Latinos, the forecast is an alarming one in two.

In persons with diabetes, the body either does not produce enough insulin (Type 1) or their cells are not able to use insulin (Type 2). African-Americans, Latinos, and those who are overweight or obese, physically inactive, or have a family history of diabetes are at high risk for developing Type 2 diabetes. Complications include heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, limb amputations and blindness.

Parents have to not only monitor their children’s diet and activity, they also must find ways to deal with the societal and environmental factors that contribute to childhood diseases. Handheld games have crowded out playground activities and team sports. Many schools no longer provide gym classes. Vending machines tempt children with sugary and salty junk foods. TV commercials do the same. And it is far easier to find a McDonald’s than a salad bar.

Our children and adolescents have more diseases today than did their parents at a comparable age.

Some 14 percent of Asian children in New York are obese, which is more than twice the rate among their parents. This is especially distressing because first-generation Chinese children who are not overweight are becoming diabetic at an increasing rate.

Also of concern to 1199SEIU parents is the high rate of asthma–the most common chronic illness among U.S. children. Some 42,000 members and their covered family members suffer from asthma, a disease that attacks the air passages of the lungs, making it difficult for the victims to breathe.

Many factors– called triggers – may contribute to asthma, including pollen, mildew, pets, dust mites, cockroach remains, tobacco and wood smoke, household cleaners, perfumes, sprays, and physical and emotional stress. Many 1199ers also live in neighborhoods with unhealthy levels of air pollution. Among those are the Bronx and many areas of Baltimore.

“I developed asthma about 10 years ago when I moved to Baltimore,” says Sinai Hospital Patient Care Associate Doris Finnie. At the time her then seven-year-old son Kerry also developed the disease. He has since outgrown it, as many children do.

“My five-year-old son, Xavier, does have asthma and that means he has to spend a lot of time indoors,” Finnie says. “He’s on medication and he also uses a nebulizer.” A nebulizer is a machine that transforms liquid medicine into a breathable fine mist.

There is no fool-proof method to prevent asthma attacks. The best way to minimize the number of attacks is to follow the asthma action plan that you develop with your doctor and to eliminate triggers.

For information about asthma and diabetes and for other valuable information about protecting our health and that of our most precious resource–our children–log on www.1199nbf.org.