Kathleen Sebelius: Childhood Obesity Shortening Lives for This Generation

One of the most troubling nuggets to come out of the Centers for Disease Control's Weight of the Nation conference on obesity prevention is that childhood obesity is so severe that the next generation could be the first in more than 200 years to live shorter lives than their parents.

In her remarks opening Weight of the Nation on Tuesday, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius said:

"The share of children that are overweight has quadrupled in the last 40 years. Type 2 diabetes used to be called "adult-onset" diabetes. Now doctors don't use the term because so many kids are getting it . . . No wonder some scientists have said that this might be the first generation of Americans in 200 years to have shorter life spans than their parents."

Sebelius' concerns, which seem to reference a 2005 study in the New England Journal of Medicine, echoed those of Bill Clinton, who called childhood obesity the No. 1 risk to the nation's public health.

One proposed measure to combat the problem is increasing funding for school lunches and breakfasts from the $12 billion the food program currently receives. Funding is especially important considering that a number of eligible children live in areas where healthy food isn't readily available. A recent USDA study on "food deserts" -- areas where no food markets or easy transportation are available -- found that access to healthy food is a problem for more than 5 million Americans.

Even when healthy food is available, the cost can be prohibitive compared with fast-food options. Kristin Roberts with D.C. Hunger Solutions commented, "A bunch of apples might be $5. I had a woman say to me that for that $5 she could feed her whole family at McDonald's."

Sebelius hinted at public health initiatives in the pipeline and also commented on upcoming health care reform, saying, "We're going to require health insurance plans to cover preventative services like the kind of counseling and care that can help people lose weight or keep the weight off in the first place."

Of course, setting governmental policies to deal with obesity is easier said than done. The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder notes the sparsity of any targeted obesity programs in pending health legislation and suggests that measures in Congress may increase coverage, but not preventative care:

"Both the House and the Senate bills would prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage to anyone based on a pre-existing condition and would prevent scaled premiums on the basis of body weight. This change may well help reverse the damaging and physically harmful stigma (faced by overweight people), but it will not (have an) effect on obesity. "

What remains to be seen, though -- and potentially the most important factor -- is how closely public health initiatives will be tied to food access. Saying she wasn't ready to release details, Sebelius suggested that some of the $1 billion set aside for public health would go directly to states and communities. Putting that money into improving access to healthy food in communities where it's not available might be the best way to drop the pounds while improving children's health.