Take on Life: If We Can Beat Polio, We Can Beat Childhood Obesity

By Brian Koonz

As it turns out, Dr. Lopez — Arguello can’t recall his first name after all these years — was El Salvador’s first pediatrician.

“This was a third-world country. He saw a little bit of everything,”  Arguello said. “But I have very vivid memories of him. He was a very smart man and a very kind man. He really inspired me.”

The 45-year-old Arguello spoke of his mentor Friday at Danbury Hospital at a press conference to unveil the “Strong Heart, Healthy Children” program to fight childhood obesity.

The program is a collaborative effort among the United Way of Western Connecticut, Danbury Hospital, Danbury Public Schools and the Regional YMCA of Western Connecticut.

Arguello remembers the house calls Lopez used to make in the early 1970s. He might do a strep culture at one home and draw blood at the next.

Just like that, Arguello said, Lopez brought medicine and comfort to the kids of El Salvador and asked for precious little in return, except for maybe a hug at the waist or a gap-toothed smile.

If Lopez was really lucky, he might get both.

Lopez made his frequent house calls wearing braces, Arguello said, the steel remnants of a childhood bout with polio. But the braces Lopez wore were not nearly as enduring as his campaign against polio.

While other folks admired The Beatles and Neil Armstrong, Lopez looked up to Dr. Jonas Salk, who developed the polio vaccine in the mid-1950s — just in time for millions of kids around the world, but too late for Lopez.

“Dr. Lopez knew how important it was to vaccinate the children against polio because he lived it,” Arguello said.

Nearly 40 years later, Arguello is mounting his own crusade for the children.

But instead of trying to eliminate polio, Arguello is fighting to end childhood obesity, a condition that affects nearly 9 million children in America, according to Arguello.

“This is not just a cosmetic problem,” Arguello said. “I’m seeing children with hypertension, diabetes and other issues that you would usually find in much older people.

“I know of one patient who had a heart attack at 26 — 26 years old,” Arguello repeated, if only to underscore his disbelief. “This is not about taking a pill. This is about going back to the basics and starting over.”