Childhood obesity requires congressional attention, panelists say

WASHINGTON — Former Maryland school nurse Donna Mazyck once had a student not only go off the charts, but completely off the scale.

In her testimony on the need for fitness and nutrition education in schools to members of Congress Thursday she recalled a student who asked if she could weigh herself.

Before Mazyck had the chance to help, the girl said, "This scale doesn't work!" Mazyck looked and realized that the scale was not broken, but that the girl weighed more than the highest weight the scale could register — 250 pounds.

The student, whose name and age were not revealed, suffered from shortness of breath, endured teasing from fellow classmates and suffered from psychological distress, according to Mazyck, president of the National Association of School Nurses based in Silver Spring, Md.

Mazyck, with other nutrition and health advocates, testified before the House Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition and Forestry. The panel told Chairman Joe Baca, D-Calif.; and Reps. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., and Cynthia Lummis, D-Wyo., that nutrition and fitness education paired with disease prevention is essential in combating childhood obesity.

Current medical care "focuses on treatment" after health problems arise, said panelist Anne Wolf, registered dietitian and research instructor at the University of Virginia.

Wolf also suggested that health insurance companies provide subsidies to families who practice healthy habits.

Childhood obesity is "setting the stage for chronic diseases later in life," said panelist Martin Yadrick, registered dietitian and president of the American Dietetic Association.

Moreover, half of the morbidly obese population was obese or overweight as children, said panelist William Dietz, director of the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity Prevention at the CDC.

Five percent of the adult population has a body mass index, a measurement of a person's body weight in proportion to height, of at least 40. A BMI between 25 and 29 is defined as overweight, one of 30 and over is considered obese and a BMI of 40 or more is considered morbidly obese, translating into being about 100 pounds overweight.

As of 2007, one of four Maryland adults was considered obese, according to data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 36 percent were overweight.