The starving, yet obese children in our community

Yes, you read that correctly. In today's Community Needs Spotlight lunch hosted by I Live Here, I Give Here, the panelists said just that. A staggering number of children in our community, 24-54%, are overweight or obese. However, they are starving, literally starving, for nutrition and it's killing them. These children are much more prone to illness and disease, such as heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes. Not to mention the effects obesity has on their self esteem, education, and future.

The one hour lunch was filled with startling statistics, thoughts, and facts as well as hopeful insights. What I found most interesting:

• Childhood obesity is a huge problem for low income, at risk, minority families. This is for many reasons, including an educational gap in parents regarding health and physical activity as well as the lack of health insurance and the fear of a child getting hurt playing a sport.
• It is important to create the habit of physical activity at a young age in order to fight off a sedentary lifestyle and negative athletic self perception. These changes happen at the elementary school level and are necessary for vital lives.
• By the time a child of an at risk family enters middle school, their physical level and sports talents are lacking, leading them to be self conscious, which then leads to a sedentary lifestyle.
• These children are missing out on the largest provider of scholarships, the NCAA, which provides $2 billion/year in support.
• Perception in children is that the heavier they are, the more fit they are. It is believed that the norm is the size of their over weight parents.
• Supermarkets are not easily accessible  in low income areas. Families must go outside of their neighborhoods for fruits and veggies.

THE GOOD NEWS:

• Jamie Oliver exists! ...As well as local organizations working to combat childhood obesity, such as Sustainable Food Center, The Links Inc Town Lake Chapter, Marathon Kids, and Fitness Feria
• Sustainable Food Center (SFC) has been operating in Austin for over 35 years. With their Sprouting Healthy Kids program in 10 schools, SFC is now reaching 10,000 kids per year, providing them with farm fresh foods for lunches. Each school also has a garden, which is a great outdoor classroom for the kids. AISD is so happy with this educational opportunity that their strategic plan includes this farm to school program in each campus in the next five years. SFC's other programs include cooking seminars and the local farmers' markets, where all vendors accept food stamps. SFC's work is proving successful, as a decrease in preference for unhealthy food has been found in the children they work with as well as healthier choices made by family members. 
• Fitness Feria is a new organization that is taking an innovative approach to fitness, sports, and health in Spanish-speaking families. Their first event had 2,000 attendees, all having to participate in a physical activity before taking home a soccer ball.
• Marathon Kids is growing, growing, growing! Founded in Austin 15 years ago, the organization now reaches 80,000 kids in Austin and 213,000 kids around the country. Their free sixth month program works with children to complete 26.2 miles and 26.2 days of healthy eating with five servings of fruits and veggies. They have found that parents are participating with their children, creating a healthy and active lifestyle for the whole family.
• The Links, Inc- Town Lake Chapter partners with Capital Area Food Bank to provide Kids Cafe, an after school program that serves healthy meals to low income children. The Links volunteers utilize the meal time to provide educational events to teach about healthy eating. They focus on teaching the norm about healthy weight as well as learning what motivates parents to adopt a healthier lifestyle. Their programs in two elementary schools cost about $25,000 per year. 
• There is a waiting list for every community garden in central Texas, proving that people are interested in what they are eating.

Your donations:

• $10 can put a child through the Marathon Kids program
• $25 buys multiple soccer balls for Finess Feria children
• $25 can provide fresh foods to a school child for a month through Sustainable Food Center
• $25 feeds 1 child for a week through The Links, Inc- Town Lake Chapter program

A lot of the funding for these programs are currently on the chopping block. Your support is greatly needed. Unless we change these unhealthy habits now by educating children AND their parents, an obese child has a 75% chance of staying obese as an adult, according to the Texas Children's Hospital. This is an epidemic that we can and need to stop.

(A lot of information given in the one hour lunch...if any of the info above is wrong, please email info@charitybash.org. Thanks!)