By DR. UMA KODURI on Sep 16, 2013, at 2:24 AM Updated on 9/16/13 at 3:17 AM
Obesity is common, serious and costly.
It is now a national and global epidemic. Today, more than one-third of U.S. adults are obese. One out of three children is obese or overweight before their fifth birthday. Oklahoma is one of the least healthy states in the country.
This is the first time that a generation will have a shorter lifespan than their parents if we do not tackle this childhood obesity epidemic.
The consequences of childhood obesity include high blood pressure, high cholesterol and Type 2 diabetes, which can shorten the lifespan of our children.
It is time to draw attention to this health crisis so we can get parents and children to change their lifestyle by selecting healthy foods and being more active. When tackling the problem, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Gov. Mary Fallin has declared September Childhood Obesity Awareness month, noting the importance of raising awareness of the state's health and encouraging communities across the state to come together and look for solutions for a healthier tomorrow.
During the month we urge you to show your support for the issue by wearing yellow. Yellow represents energy, motivation, pleasure, liveliness and optimism to help individuals lead healthy lifestyles.
We chose Sunshine Yellow as sunshine is energizing like exercise that we are promoting to fight childhood obesity.
What can the individual parent do? We are promoting first lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" initiative, especially the ChooseMyPlate and Presidential Active Lifestyle Award efforts. Also, use the 5-2-1-0 concept for daily diet and activity developed by the American Medical Association, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau:
5 servings of fruits and vegetables
2 hours or less of recreational screen time
1 hour or more of physical activity
0 sugary drinks. More water and low-fat milk
Earlier this year, the Tulsa chapter of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin hosted an educational school walkathon at Penn Elementary with the help of Principal Erica Fraser.
The pilot program of the association's Adopt a School - Childhood Obesity Awareness Program will serve as a model for similar events in 100 schools nationwide in 2013-2014 and has the tag line "Be Fit - Be Cool."
State Secretary of Health Terry Cline, Tulsa Health Department Director Bruce Dart, Tulsa first lady Victoria Bartlett, school board member Lana Turner-Addison, and Dr. Sanku Rao, president of the Global Association of Physicians of Indian Origin gave motivational speeches to students, parents, teachers and school staff to fight childhood obesity. Students received free sunshine yellow T-shirts, pedometers, educational materials, healthy snacks and tomato plants and bean seeds to start a kitchen garden. The event was concluded with a one-mile walkathon in the school playground.
We can do something about childhood obesity.
It will take engagement on the part of parents, educators, health professionals and the entire community.
Uma Koduri, M.D., is chairwoman of the National AAPI - Childhood Obesity Committee, founder of the Walk World Walkathon Organization and past president of Tulsa chapter of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin.
Original Print Headline: Oklahoma remains one of least healthy states
Reader Forum
The incarceration rate in Oklahoma is among the highest in the nation with approximately 26,000 people behind bars at any given time.
The Nov. 28, 2008, Tulsa World published my Readers Forum piece, "Antietam," in which I reported on a visit my then-8-year-old grandson, Stevie, and I made to Antietam battlefield in rural Maryland.
