I am a mother now, and I can’t turn it off.  Especially when I read something as shocking as the recent statistics from the CDC about adequate fruit and vegetable intake.

A new-ish report from the CDC says that less than one-third of U. S. adults meet the government’s goals for eating enough fruits and vegetables, and only 13% of high school students eat enough vegetables.    This is particularly shocking when one considers that the government’s goals do not come close to what some experts suggest.  But even worse news is that 25% of kids 9 months-4 years old get 0 (that’s right, ZERO) fruit, and 30% get absolutely no, zero, zip, vegetables.

WHAT?  Are you kidding me?

No.  No, they are not kidding me. And this makes me very, very sad.  Even sadder when I discovered that they consider the fried potato a vegetable, so that of the two-thirds that do get vegetables, 46% of them are ONLY consuming the fried potato.  Potato, though better than nothing, is not exactly a nutritional heavyweight, and FRIED potato…….hey, it’s yummy, but hey, counting it as vegetable consumption is laughable at best.

Seventeen percent of US kids are clinically obese, and one in three US children considered overweight.  Childhood obesity is now an epidemic.  The CDC reports that “number of adolescents who are overweight has tripled since 1980 and the prevalence among younger children has more than doubled.” Being overweight during childhood and adolescence increases the risk of developing serious long-term medical problems such as high cholesterol, hypertension, hyperlipidemia,and and type 2 diabetes, which has also become epidemic in children. Overweight and obese children also suffer respiratory ailments (including sleep apnea,) orthopedic problems, gastro-intestinal disease, early puberty, and psychological problems, including depression, as a youths.

So, in addition to becoming an extensive problem, this has become quite an expensive problem.  In fact, children treated for obesity are approximately three times more expensive to the health care system than the average insured child.  God only knows how much more expensive the uninsured children are.  According to the CDC, the hospital costs associated with childhood obesity alone were estimated at $127 million during 1997–1999 (in 2001 constant U.S. dollars), and in 2000, “the total cost of obesity in the United States was estimated to be $117 billion—$61 billion for direct medical costs and $56 billion for indirect costs.” And as the incidence of childhood obesity continues to rise, and the cost of healthcare in general continue to rise, these numbers are going to become even more staggering.  And unsustainable.

Even worse, obesity (childhood or otherwise) is also a deadly problem.  It is estimated that about 112,000 deaths are associated with obesity each year in the US. That’s a heck of a lot of lives, and a heck of a lot of cash, to be saved by addressing and treating obesity, including childhood obesity, alone.

Sadly, the obesity rates and the cost of treatment are even higher among low-income minority children.  A Medstat report found that annual healthcare costs are about $6,700 for children treated for obesity covered by Medicaid and about $3,700 for obese children with private insurance.  These cost are even higher when you look at treating adults.  Low-income families, while they can afford food, often have to resort to inexpensive yet filling foods.  These foods are  filling because they consist of simple carbohydrates, salt, sugar and other ingredients linked to obesity.

Can eating more fruits and vegetables help to prevent obesity? Absolutely.  For example, a report in Obesity: A Research Journal examined changing the diet of at-risk children and their parents. The report compared two groups: one with an increased fruit and vegetable intake and the other with a decreased high-fat/high-sugar food intake.  ”Percentage of overweight change was greater for parents who targeted increases in fruit and vegetable intake than reductions in high-fat/high-sugar intake. The main contribution to weight control is a reduction in caloric intake, and dietary restriction is needed to lose weight. These results suggest that a differential focus on what can be eaten versus what cannot be eaten may make it easier to adhere to the caloric reductions needed for weight control. The interventions were designed to improve child eating habits and to prevent increases in the percentage of overweight in these high-risk children. The interventions were successful in meeting this goal, and if continued over time, the interventions might be useful in preventing the development of obesity.”

I figure, most of us in the US have nearly full control over what our child eats for at least the first couple of years.   My toddler isn’t currently given the option of a fried potato, or soda, or a delicious Quarter Pounder with Cheese, and so she doesn’t know what she is missing.  And even if she did, she can’t talk yet, so we can’t argue about it.  I win!  For now, at least.  Therefore, I’m cramming all the high quality fruit and veg I can into that little gal while I can.

Studies show that an infant/toddler’s exposure to different flavors can form his/her eating habits throughout childhood. Much infant and toddler formula and food is loaded with sugar, salt, simple carbohydrates, and other ingredients linked to obesity.  Relying on such foods not only puts your child at immediate risk for being overweight or obese, but also teaches him/her to prefer these foods to whole foods which are unsweetened, unsalted, and flavored with natural herbs, spices and the like.  Therefore, it is putting the child at risk of acquiring eating habits that will keep him/her on the fast-track to obesity and all its complications.

Now, I suffer no delusions that my child will never find out about french fries, chimichangas, orange soda and baked brie.  I fully realize that she is likely to have a phase where she will only eat ______.  But, in her early toddler years, if she has never met a hot dog, she is unlikely to suddenly demand it be her sole diet.  Additionally, she is going to have a few years of happily gulping down an extensive variety of fruit and vegetables that have no added sugar, salt etc.  And this, hopefully, will bring her back to the program after her food strike.

And for the rest of you, wanna save on health care costs?  For the rest of your life?  And, enjoy a higher quality of life? Eat yer vegetables.  Eating them can’t be worse than the consequences of NOT eating them.