Unlike any other time in U.S. history, a significant number of our children and teenagers are obese or close to it – currently more than a third of them, about 25 million kids.  Most of these obese kids will become obese adults, who are likely to live sicker and die younger than their parents’ generation.     

The prevalence of childhood obesity is excessive and rapidly escalating, with severe clinical consequences.  All communities and populations are adversely affected, particularly low income communities.  Left unabated, the epidemic will overwhelm health care delivery and financing systems and destabilize health programs and other services for children, the elderly and the poor.         

To maintain a healthy weight, the energy we consume in calories must equal the amount of energy we burn. This is “energy balance.” For at least three decades we’ve been terribly out of balance—taking in enormously more energy than we burn. There is no one culprit.  Individual and family choices are driven by a mix of genetics, biology, socio-economic factors, commercial and cultural influences, and the 24/7 availability of junk foods.

We have to restore the energy-balance equation so that ENERGY IN = ENERGY BURNED in our individual and collective lives.  Preventing childhood obesity will require more than asking people to eat right and move more. It is not fair to expect people will take responsibility for making healthier choices unless they have the opportunity to make those choices.

In the communities hardest hit by obesity, families simply don’t have what they need to make healthy choices. They don’t have grocery stores that stock affordable fresh fruits and vegetables. There aren’t enough safe places for kids to play. To reverse the childhood obesity epidemic, we must remove these barriers and provide families with better access to healthy choices.  We’ll have to change policies to support healthier lifestyles. And as a society, we’ll have to make deep down social, cultural and personal change.

We already know how to change behavior to save lives.  We’ve reduced drunk driving and protected millions of Americans from the harm of tobacco through education, advocacy, good public policy and strong leadership . And it’s hard to imagine getting behind the wheel of a car today without buckling up. These success stories provide examples of how a national commitment to policy and social change can transform individual behavior.

With childhood obesity, past efforts have been too small, slow, and fragmented--a jumble of unconnected state, school, community, business and philanthropic efforts.  Missing is a sense of national urgency to act and the resources to help communities, states and the nation coordinate efforts, advocate for change and evaluate impact.

The evidence is compelling: Millions of promising young lives are being redirected away from hope and health toward disease and early death.  The public, though concerned, doesn’t know what to do in the face of such an obvious epidemic. Current anti-obesity efforts by government and industry are fragmented and under-funded.  It’s time to tilt the scales toward action.