The Hunger-Obesity Paradox

Right away the four of us were in enthusiastic conversation. Dr. Agatston talked about his program in Miami low-income schools, where he changed the diets of middle schoolers and measured the effect on their cardiovascular system while measuring their test scores. He threw exercise in and found that those schools that did everything right had higher test scores and lower cholesterol levels.

Rachael Ray came to the event with enough energy for all of us. She talked about her work in New York City schools, providing monetary rewards to schools that change their menus and improve the taste of their meals. She said she believes it is her duty as a chef to teach others about cooking good food. This was her fourth Fun and Fit symposium.

And Audrey Rowe, career USDA, long-time nutritionist, probably knows more about hunger and nutrition than the rest of us. She spoke passionately about the promise of direct certification, a change that would simplify the sign up process for families and enroll kids in all federal nutrition programs at once.

But the most important contributions came from the audience. A woman stood up and said she’d lost 100 pounds, and talked about what that meant to her and how her poor nutrition hurt her as a child. She had been a size 28, and she donated her clothes to her friend who taught at a low-income school. The teacher gave the clothes to a sixth grader, age 12, and size 28.

Words like “epidemic” and “crisis” were used by many in the audience because that is what we face as a nation. The confluence of these two issues, childhood hunger and childhood obesity, wreaks havoc on our children. Dr. Agatston said he can see the impact of poor nutrition in the faces, bodies and blood of our children.

We can not ignore childhood hunger or obesity any longer. Help us send this message to the nation’s leaders: schools need resources and action to combat these interconnected crises.

Photo credit: Seth Browarnik/Red Eye Productions

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