Childhood Obesity -- a Long, Complicated Fight Begins: Doctors Observe Increase in Disease Among Children

By Robert Miller
STAFF WRITER

Far too many of his young patients are seriously overweight or obese, he said.

"For children in Connecticut, the obesity rate is about 12 percent,'' Arguello, the chairman of pediatrics at Danbury Hospital, said. "But in Danbury, for our minority populations -- blacks and Hispanics -- the rate I'm seeing is something like 32 percent.''

That has dire enough implications now.

Arguello, whose specialty is pediatric endocrinology, said he now routinely treats teens and even pre-teenagers for Type 2 diabetes -- the metabolic form of the disease that used to only be found in adults in the 50s and 60s.

"Ten years ago, it was rare to see -- very rare,'' said Dr. Joseph Belsky, an endocrinologist at Danbury Hospital who has been treating diabetics for decades.

The obesity epidemic has been overtaking the city and the country for decades.

"Something happened to our society in the 1970s,'' Arguello said. The factors included an economy that made it necessary for both parents to work.

At the same time, there was the rise of home computer games that made staying at home noisy exciting fun that required no cardiovascular exercise. "Atari came along in the 1970s.''

At the same time, the diets of Americans began to become bigger, fatter and sweeter. Fast-food restaurants began

"The total number of calories people are eating is increasing. And there's sugar in everything,'' Belsky said. "It's in baked beans, it's in catsup, it's in bread. The government has gone to great expense to put labels on our food telling us the ingredients. It's very important that people read the labels.''

Arguello also said because both parents in many families have to work to make ends meet, family meals become catch-as-catch-can affairs. It becomes easier to grab take-out food that can be cooked at home.

Denise Smith, of Danbury, is one of those people who got Type 2 diabetes in her teens. At 14, complaining of pains throughout her stomach, she learned she had Type 2 diabetes, she said.

Now 27, she's got her disease under control thanks to insulin injections. She gets daily exercise at the YMCA in Bethel, where she works and tries to keep her weight under control.

"But dealing with diabetes has been the biggest obstacle of my life,'' she said. "When you're growing up, a lot of people don't understand. When I first started dating my husband, I was afraid to tell him I was a diabetic.''

The problems of the future will only be worse. Studies have shown that once kids become obese, most will stay that way.

That means society is looking at a generation that will be plagued by diabetes -- which means, in turn, more kidney disease, more blindness, more amputated limbs. It means more heart attacks and strokes. It means many, many billions needed to treat these diseases.

"We've always thought that each generation will have longer life spans,'' Arguello said. "Because of this, I'm not so sure. This is the biggest epidemic we face in terms of health.''

Last month, a report issued by the United Health Foundation, the American Public Health Foundation and Partnership for Prevention, voiced their concerns as well saying "obesity is growing faster than any previous public health issue our nation has faced.''

If nothing is done to reverse this trend, there will be 103 million obese Americans, the report said, costing $344 billion in health care. The report quotes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in calling American society "obesogenic'' -- a society that promotes eating too much food, much of it unhealthy, while not getting enough physical exercise.

Arguello said this is also an epidemic whose course can be reversed -- not by medical miracles but by societal changes. For people who are pre-diabetic, or even diabetic, losing weight and exercising can make important changes in their health.

The city of Danbury is trying to better the situation.

It has formed a new organization called the Coalition for Healthy Kids, which tries to bring together every element in the community that this epidemic touches -- city schools, Danbury Hospital, the area public health departments, the Regional YMCA, area businesses, the United Way of Western Connecticut, and the city of Danbury Parks and Recreation Department.

"We're really trying to reach out to everyone,'' said Maureen Farrell, director of membership wellness at the Regional YMCA and the coalition's chairwoman.

"The solution is to get everyone involved,'' Arguello said. "We've got to make the city a safe place to exercise.''

Arguello said issues of class and culture come into the argument.

How do you communicate with people who don't always speak English?

How do you make good, nutritious food available to people who don't have a lot of money?

Can people who have to work long hours afford to send their children to the YMCA for programs?

Farrell said the Coalition for Healthy Kids began a series of community conversations to explore these issues last month.

Farrell said the coalition hopes to begin pilot programs at the elementary school level to work on these issues, then expand them. It also hopes to revive the Danbury 10K run in 2010 as a community event to promote health and fitness.to super-size everything.

Arguello said these programs need to bring entire families into the fold.

"We want parents to be role models to their kids,'' he said.

"We spend $61 billion a year to treat diabetes and we lose $56 billion a year in lost productivity,'' Arguello said.

And if the city, and the country refuses that challenge, the price tag for treating a generation of diabetics will climb much higher.

"The programs we need will cost money,'' Arguello said. "But the cost will be minimal compared to the cost of not doing anything.''

Contact Robert Miller at bmiller@newstimes.com or at 203-731-3345.

Americans, who love a deal, bought into the concept, he said.