When it comes to the widening waistlines of Americans and people around the world, the news just gets more and more depresssing.
A report in the International Journal of Pediatric Obesity announced that nearly one half of the children in both North and South America will be overweight by 2010, an estimate much higher than recent studies, which predicted that one-third of our kids would be fat, the AP reported.
This "global epidemic… appears to be affecting most countries in the world," said Dr. Philip James, chairman of the International Obesity Task Force and author of an editorial in the journal warning of the trend.
Kids in one country after another appears to be affected — Middle East, Southeast Asia. Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Egypt and China.
In perhaps one of his most telling remarks, Dr. James said that countries around the world such as China are "being bombarded like they are in the West to eat all the wrong foods.
"The Western world’s food industries without even realizing it have precipitated an epidemic with enormous health consequences," Dr. James added.
Our world’s children, he says, are "being exposed to the world’s marketing might."
Hurrah for Dr. James, who argues that governments should step in. "There needs to be a ban on all forms of marketing, not just television adverts."
Experts such as English surgeon Dr. Phillip Thomas, who works extensively with obese patients, also suggested legislating against direct advertising of junk food toward children.
What’s horribly sad is that as obese children grow up they tend to stay obese, and they also tend to suffer heart disease, stroke and other weight-related ailments.
Wanna kick sugar to trim fat? Join my free, online KickSugar support group. Then, join me in my tele-seminars, which are still free for a limited time. Just go to www.KickSugarSpecial.com to sign up. Our next one is on Thursday with a stress-reduction expert, who will help us to learn other more constructive techniques than stuffing your face when under stress.