Why children are getting and what UB is - University at Buffalo

when
UB researchers probe
the complex causes
of childhood obesity,
developing treatments
that are pioneering
and family focused
isn’t
necessarily
better
That childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions
in America is a troubling, yet not particularly new,
fact. What’s far more complex and worrisome, however,
is the question: what can be done
about it? “The problem is real,”
says Suzanne Laychock, professor and senior associate
dean for research and biomedical education in the UB
School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. “Obesity
has become one of the most major health problems in
the world.” The numbers are startling. The Journal of
the American Medical Association reports that 16.3
percent of American children ages 2 to 19 are obese; an
additional 15.6 percent are considered overweight. If
that’s not sufficiently disturbing,
Illustration by Glynis Sweeny
a 2005 study found that today’s
children in the United States could be the first generation
in modern times to have shorter lives than their
parents because of obesity-related health issues.
Story by Susan M. LoTempio
www.alumni.buffalo.edu UBTODAY Winter 2009 13