Adding urgency to Michelle Obama’s initiative to tackle childhood obesity is the release of two new studies published in the medical journal Health Affairs.  The studies indicate that American children are eating three snacks each day on top of three regular meals, a finding that could explain why the childhood obesity rate has risen to more than 16 percent since 2003.

Carmen Piernas and Barry Popkin of the University of North Carolina reported that children are snacking so often that they are “moving toward constant eating,” a habit that is putting our children’s health at risk for obesity related diseases.

Piernas and Popkin looked at 31,337 children aged 2 to 18 from four different federal surveys on food and eating.  ”Childhood snacking trends are moving toward three snacks per day, and more than 27 percent of children’s daily calories are coming from snacks. The largest increases have been in salty snacks and candy. Desserts and sweetened beverages remain the major sources of calories from snacks,” they wrote.

“Children have increased their caloric intake by 113 calories per day from 1977 to 2006,” they added. “This raises the question of whether the physiological basis for eating is becoming deregulated, as our children are moving toward constant eating.”

In a second study in the journal, Christina Bethell of the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland analyzed data from the 2007 National Survey of Children’s Health to find the rate of obesity for children 10 to 17 rose from 14.8 percent in 2003 to 16.4 percent in 2007.

Other studies have shown that obese children are more likely to stay obese as adults, and they develop chronic conditions at younger ages, burdening the healthcare system.

Michelle Obama told the School Nutrition Association that “Parents, educators and policymakers all hold responsibility for this childhood obesity epidemic.  Our kids didn’t do this to themselves.  From fast food, to vending machines packed with chips and candy, to a la carte lines, we tempt our kids with all kinds of unhealthy choices every day.  You see kids who are at higher risk of conditions like diabetes, and cancer, and heart disease, conditions that cost billions of dollars a year to treat.”

SOURCE:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100302/hl_nm/us_obesity_children_usa