Advocacy Project: Letter and Fact Sheet

December 6, 2010
Marcia L. Fudge
House Energy and Commerce

1513 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

Vote YES on H.RES.996 Expressing support for the designation of September as National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month.

I am a student at the University of Minnesota Duluth and my major is Health Education. I am very concerned about the obesity epidemic in our nation, especially childhood obesity.  There are many different approaches that have been taken to help reduce this problem, but very few that have to deal with affording resources. With that being said, I am pleased to hear about the proposed bill expressing support for the designation of September as National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month.

This act provides to recognize the importance of preventing childhood obesity and decreasing its prevalence in the United States. I think this is very important because during the past four decades, obesity rates have soared among all age groups, increasing more than fourfold among children ages 6 to 11.

In the past, you have demonstrated support towards the decrease of childhood obesity. I encourage you to vote for expressing support for the designation of September as National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month.  If support or any type of assistance is needed, please feel free to contact me at any time. Thank you for your time and support.

Sincerely,
Heidi

Fact Sheet

The U.S has been struggling with obesity for over 20 years now. Comparing the 1970's to the 2000's, the prevalence of obesity has increased for children of all ages at least 3 times over to about 20% of our population less than 19 years old. A Bit of History 

In 1998, 21.5 percent of Black children and 21.8 percent of Latino children were overweight, while 12.3 percent of White children were. Childhood Obesity 

Obesity can cause many health related problems such as increased risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, breathing problems, trouble sleeping, as well as emotional problems. Obesity In Children and Teens

Overweight and obesity medical expenses accounted for 9.1 percent of total U.S. medical expenditures in 1998. To put this in a numerical value, the expenses were $92.6 billion in 2002. Approximately half of these costs were paid by Medicaid and Medicare. Economic Consequences

Overweight children tend to have poorer social skills than normal-weight children have and this may cause overweight children to socially withdraw. Also, obesity has a negative effect on a child’s learning. Childhood Obesity