Report Title:

Childhood Obesity

RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, obesity is the second leading cause of preventable death in the United States; and

WHEREAS, according to the California Research Bureau's "Overweight Kids: Why Should We Care?" the total 1995 cost (health care and pharmaceutical costs, workday/lifetime earnings loss) in the United States associated with obesity was $99,200,000,000; and

WHEREAS, the California Research Bureau also reports that after an obese child reaches six years of age, the probability that obesity will persist exceeds fifty per cent; and

WHEREAS, according to the Centers for Disease Control, childhood obesity in the United States has nearly doubled in the past two decades; and

WHEREAS, compared to ten years ago, children are consuming an additional one hundred calories and more per day, primarily from soda, juice, fast foods, and candy; and

WHEREAS, children are also participating less in physical activity, in part because schools demand less from them and in part because fewer affordable and accessible opportunities for physical exercise exist; and

WHEREAS, children face serious health and social consequences from being overweight, both as children and as adults, including cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes (adult onset) caused in part by high fat diets, excessive weight, and a sedentary lifestyle; and

WHEREAS, overweight and obese children are also more likely to experience asthma and bronchial hyperactivity; and

WHEREAS, obese children are more prone to skin disorders, especially if deep skin folds are present; and

WHEREAS, overweight and obese children are at a significant risk of developing psychological disorders including depression, poor self-esteem, and negative self-image and withdrawal from peers; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2001, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Health and the Department of Education are requested to examine the problem of childhood obesity and recommend strategies to address this problem; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health, in consultation with the Department of Education, is requested to report its findings and recommendations to the Legislature, no more than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2002 regular legislative session; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health, the Superintendent of Education and the Chairperson of the Board of Education.