One in five children in US still obese as Kids Eat Right Month begins

02 Aug 2017 --- The US still appears to be fighting an uphill battle with its childhood nutritional crisis as its annual Kids Eat Right Month begins. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), childhood obesity has more than tripled since the 1970s and today, one in five children in the US, ages 6 to 19, is obese. But childhood obesity, which is associated with elevated risks of high cholesterol, high blood pressure, bone and joint problems and sleep apnea, can usually be prevented.

This August, the fourth annual Kids Eat Right Month in the US, organized by the Organization of Nutrition and Dietetics, aims to focus on the importance of healthy eating and active lifestyles for kids and families in the US. The initiative is the latest opportunity for the organization to emphasize its Dietary Guidelines for Americans document and propose specific improvements to US children’s diets.

Created in 2014, Kids Eat Right Month mobilizes registered dietitian nutritionists in a grassroots movement to share healthful eating messages to help families adopt nutritious eating habits. "Now more than ever, the health of the nation's children is of paramount concern," said registered dietitian nutritionist and Academy President Donna Martin. "Kids Eat Right Month emphasizes the positive, practical steps families, communities, health care professionals and policy makers can take to make sure that we are doing everything we can to improve children's health."

Nutrition is especially important for children because it is directly linked to all aspects of their growth and development, which will affect them as adults. "August is back-to-school time and the perfect opportunity for RDNs to highlight the importance of proper nutrition and physical activity that will help ensure children are healthy and succeed in school," Martin said. "Raising the next generation of healthy kids starts now."

Obama campaign
Former US first lady Michelle Obama famously began an organization called “Let’s Move” in 2010 in order to do something about the problem of children’s health that has dogged the US for years, although its long-term legacy is now being debated. The campaign focused on providing healthier food options, increasing exercise opportunities in schools and supporting healthier lifestyles. But current US President Donald Trump has recently scaled back nutritional requirements set by the Obama White House in 2012, with Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue signing a proclamation on May 1 that relaxes changes for the upcoming school year in the areas of whole grains, salt and milk.

States will now be able to grant exemptions to schools experiencing hardship when it comes to meeting the standard of all grains being 100 percent whole grain-rich. Schools will no longer need to hit the strictest target for lowering sodium in foods offered to students. And meal programs will be able to serve students 1 percent flavored milk instead of fat-free flavored milk.

Obama reacted to the changes angrily. “I don't care what state you live in, take me out of the equation, like me, don't like me, but think about why someone is OK with your kids eating crap,” she told an annual healthy eating conference in Washington on May 12. She says she focused her “Let's Move” anti-obesity campaign on children because statistics show they are more vulnerable to preventable illnesses such as stroke, heart disease and diabetes.

However, statistics proving that “Let’s Move” has been a success are hard to come by. After the launch of Obama’s flagship campaign, the obesity rate for all children aged 2-19 remained stable. Between 2009 and 2014, the obesity rate for 2-19 year olds hovered around 17 percent, up from 10 percent for children surveyed in the late 1980s and early 1990s, according to a 2016 investigation. 

Brand- or price-based solution
Answers to the question of what to do about the US’ stark childhood nutrition problem are therefore still being proposed. One solution for some children could be to charge higher prices for unhealthy snacks to motivate healthier choices, according to a study published in the journal Appetite.

In the study, “Children's purchase behavior in the snack market: Can branding or lower prices motivate healthier choices?” researchers co-led by Professors Monika Hartmann from the University of Bonn and Sean Cash from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University report that brand awareness was not necessarily aligned with preference of snack foods. The researchers studied the ways that children aged 8-11 use their own disposable income, predominantly an allowance provided by a parent, to purchase snack food on their own.

Perhaps more importantly, the extent of children's experience with money influenced their purchase decisions, suggesting that higher prices for unhealthy snacks might be helpful in motivating at least those children that have experience with money to choose healthier options.

The research took place in after-school programs in the Boston area with a sample of 116 children ages 8-11 years. The study consisted of a survey, two cognitive tests, and a discrete choice experiment (DCE). The participants were paid US$2 each as compensation after completing the cognitive tests that they could then spend in the DCE part of the study.

“Overall, the literature on children's price responsiveness and brand awareness is scarce,” the authors state in their article. “The former is especially true for younger children (elementary school).” At the same time, they observe that children spend a considerable amount of money on snacks while childhood incidence of the chronic dietary-related disease is high and increasing around the world.

Acknowledging the study’s overall limitations, the authors point out that this is a small study, regionally biased and with limited choices within the experiment. They suggest further research to explore the efficacy of using price and presentation – for example, packaging and branding – as additional tools in the fight against the growing incidence of chronic disease among children.

Pricing strategy, may, however, be one platform to address the ongoing concern about childhood obesity in the US.

By Paul Creasy