Facts about obesity
- Almost one in every three Americans is obese, up from nearly one in four just 20 years ago.
- Nine million American children are overweight or obese.
- The percentage of severly overweight adolescents has tripled since 1980, to 15%.
One of the most comprehensive studies of the problem has been produced by Dr. Allison, director of the CLinical Nutrition Research Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and appears in the Jounal of the AMA (American Medical Association).
- Dr. Allison says being overweight can boost the risk of heart disease, stroke and some kinds of cancer.
- Type 2 diabetes, which normally strikes adults over 40, is now appearing in children. This is unheard of in American history.
If the obesity epidemic is not checked, today's children will not have the same lifespan of their parents. The U.S. Surgeon General predicts that today's children will be the first generation to live shorter lives than their parents.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human services has set a goal of having only 5 percent of school-aged children overweight by 2010. Unless the trend is reversed by selling food and drinks with lower sugar and less bad fats this goal will not be reached.
The attention has been on tobacco and other drugs, and not enough attention has been focused on the obesity problem. Now that focus is shifting, and obesity is being seen as the killer it is.
The Vending Variable
Vending machines are in the eye of the storm as lawmakers, physician groups, parents, schools, and insurance companies are demanding children have more access and in some cases exclusive access to healthy foods.
| Whether vending machines are the cause of obesity has yet to be determined. But the general public and lawmakers have singled out the vending industry as a major culprit. Snack Essentials's objective is to change the way consumers view vending machines and the vending industry as a whole. We all need to be proactive with this issue. The U.S. Snack Market published by Packaged Facts states that the "good-for-you" segment of the snack food market is poised for an explosion of products, especially those products that are at the same time are appealing (tasty, convienient, novel) and nutritious. |
Now Vending machine operators have a chance to be a part of the solution by being proactive with the choice of products they place in their vending machines. Click below to see Snack Essentials education program, Snacking 101.
