Confronting Childhood Obesity

▪ 2006

      The beloved blue Muppet Cookie Monster debuted his hit song, “C Is for Cookie,” on the Public Broadcasting Service television program Sesame Street in 1972. For more than 30 years, he sang the praises of the sweet caloric treat that he devoured in quantity. In recent years, however, the creators of Sesame Street recognized that Cookie Monster, in his own lovable way, might have been contributing to the growing crisis of childhood obesity in the United States. In April 2005 the show introduced “Healthy Habits for Life,” a segment in each episode that featured tips on exercise and healthy eating. In addition, Cookie Monster learned a new tune from a more enlightened Muppet, Hoots the Owl: “Won't you listen to what Hootsy tells you. / …A cookie can be scrumptious / Crunchy, sweet and yumptious / But… / A cookie is a sometime food. / …Try an orange or some cherries / Try a melon or some berries. / …Yes, a fruit is an anytime food!”

      Cookie Monster's introduction to fruit was long overdue, given that nine million American children over age six, including teenagers, were overweight, or obese (the terms were typically used interchangeably in describing excess fatness in children). Moreover, in the previous two decades, the prevalence of obesity had more than doubled among 2- to 5-year-olds (from 5.1% to 10.4%) and 6- to 11-year-olds (from 6.1% to 15.3%). The American Academy of Pediatrics called obesity “the pediatric epidemic of the new millennium.”

      Overweight youngsters faced stigma and suffered emotional, psychological, and social problems. Increasingly, fat children were being diagnosed with high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes, all conditions that were once seen almost exclusively in adults, and one study indicated that overweight children had broken bones and problems with joints more often than other children. The long-term consequences of obesity in young people were of great concern to pediatricians and public-health experts because obese children were at high risk of becoming obese adults. In the past year, experts on longevity concluded that the current generation of American youth might “live less healthy and possibly even shorter lives than their parents” if the rising prevalence of obesity was left unchecked.

      The root causes of childhood obesity were complex and not fully understood, but it was clear that most fat children got that way because they ate too much and exercised too little. Many child health experts believed that one reason kids ate too much was that “junk foods” were so prevalent and so aggressively and cleverly marketed to them (in 2004 food and beverage companies spent over $10 billion on marketing fattening products directly to American youngsters). The lack of calorie-burning exercise was highlighted by a 2005 Kaiser Family Foundation survey, which found that respondents aged 8–18 spent an average of about six hours a day watching television, videos, and DVDs, playing video games, and using computers.

      Curbing the rise in childhood obesity was the aim of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a partnership formed in 2005 by the American Heart Association, former U.S. president Bill Clinton, and the children's television network Nickelodeon. Clinton, who had been a fat child, knew firsthand the life-threatening consequences of unhealthy lifestyle habits. “After my bypass surgery last year, I wanted to develop a program for young people so they know about the dangers of eating poorly and living an unhealthy lifestyle,” said the reformed junk-food lover. The alliance intended to reach kids through a vigorous public-awareness campaign. Speaking of his media company's role in the partnership, Nickelodeon Networks president Herb Scannell said, “We want kids to become personally invested in living strong, healthy lives. And if we do our jobs right, kids will believe that being healthy is cool.”

Ellen Bernstein

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