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Children of Poor, Uneducated Parents More Likely to be Fat or Depressed

Educational and income levels of a teen's parents might make a difference in whether that teen gets fat or depressed, according to a study by two medical professors from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and Brandeis University.

Researchers interviewed parents of 15,112 teenagers (average age: 16 years). Of that total group, 9% were depressed and 10% were obese. However, among the teens that had at least one parent with a college education, only 5% were depressed and 6% obese. In the top income group, only 6% were depressed and 6% obese.

"Almost two-thirds of adolescents live in homes without a college-educated parent, and almost half live in households with incomes below 2.5 times the federal poverty threshold," according to Dr. Elizabeth Goodman and Dr. Gail Slap, authors of the study. The teens in those groups were much more likely to be fat or depressed.

While many people believe that being fat is a matter of willpower and individual choice, this study indicates that assuming that attitude may be "blaming the victim." Obesity and poverty have to be studied from the population standpoint, not just the individual standpoint, according to Drs. Goldman and Slap.

This study was published in the November 2003 issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

Researchers Call for City Design Changes to
Encourage People to Walk and Exercise

Something as simple as putting in more sidewalks may be the key to combating the nation's obesity epidemic.

Researchers with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation are working with city administrators and public policy planners to make American communities more conducive to walking, bicycling and other exercise.

Most Americans do not get the thirty minutes of daily vigorous exercise recommended by the Surgeon General. However, American cities and towns are currently too geared toward automobiles and not set up for walking and exercising. The researchers called for simple design changes like fewer cul de sacs and more connected streets, more parks, more recreation centers, safe routes for children to walk to school, more bicycle trails and more shaded walkways. They pointed to a study of Japanese senior citizens who lived longer if they had access to "walk-able tree-lined streets."

About two-thirds of Americans ages 20 to 74 years old are overweight; 31% are obese. The number of overweight children has more than tripled since 1976. The researchers believe that the cause of the obesity epidemic is only partly overeating; some of the blame belongs on a sedentary lifestyle encouraged by poor design of cities and towns.

This study appears in the September 2003 issue of the American Journal of Public Health.