New data reveals that childhood obesity is an urgent health threat in New Jersey | Opinion – NJ.com

By Amelie Ramirez and Maisha Simmons

The COVID-19 pandemic has burdened children in ways we can’t even fully comprehend — from the uncertainties of remote learning and social isolation to the economic and health challenges straining their families. Today, this toll on kids’ health and well-being is becoming apparent.

One facet of this is childhood obesity, and new data show this urgent health threat in New Jersey, particularly among children of color. The state’s obesity rate among youth ages 10 to 17 is 13.8%. New Jersey is actually doing better than most states; even so, too many young people are still at greater risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and some forms of cancer. Children’s health issues today risk becoming burdens as they grow older.

Black and brown youth in New Jersey fare even worse than white children — disparities that mirror what we see nationally. Children of color and children growing up furthest from economic opportunity have historically been at the greatest risk for obesity.

This is an indictment of our society, not of the children or their families.

Systemic factors like inadequate access to healthy food, stagnant incomes and the lack of access to healthcare all contribute to childhood obesity. In New Jersey, and across the nation, many of these factors are grounded in generations of structural racism — unfair treatment built into policies, laws and practices. This is evident in housing, education, employment, income, credit access and healthcare. Every system that touches and shapes our lives creates these impacts. These patterns and practices reinforce discriminatory beliefs, values and the distribution of resources. All of this, in turn, affects the health of children and their families.

Imagine growing up in a community without stores that sell healthy, affordable foods. This challenge was made even worse during the pandemic, as food insecurity increased and too many families were forced to resort to less-healthy meals for their families, which can contribute to childhood obesity. Imagine, too, that the neighborhood does not offer children safe places to play, or even clean air to breathe. The parent or caregiver works hard, but their work hours are unpredictable and they don’t get paid enough to even cover the basic necessities. Their job doesn’t offer health insurance, so if someone in their family gets sick, a difficult situation suddenly becomes an impossible one.

We have seen these impacts not just in long-term childhood obesity rate trends, but throughout the pandemic, where deep-seated inequities have harmed some communities more than others. Here in New Jersey, for instance, Black and Latino residents are over-represented in COVID-19 hospitalizations. The economic and health impacts throughout the pandemic have burdened communities of color disproportionately.

Several studies have begun to document a surge in childhood obesity rates during the pandemic. One conducted in the Philadelphia region showed obesity rates rising the most among children ages 5 to 9, and most among Black and Latino children. This is likely because the pandemic upended so many of the systems that support our lives — systems that were not adequately supporting Black and brown children equitably even before the pandemic.

Solving these systemic, interconnected problems requires changing the policies and systems that shape them. In a new report, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation offers some key recommendations to help all children grow up healthy:

Make universal school meals permanent, and provide resources so that every child has a consistent source of healthy meals. School meals have become significantly healthier over the past decade. Pandemic-era policy changes have meant more kids are getting meals. We must keep those changes in place so every child has access to healthy foods at school.

Extend eligibility for WIC to postpartum mothers through the first two years after the birth of a baby and to children through age 6. More than 130,000 people participated in WIC in New Jersey in 2019, and the obesity rate among New Jersey kids participating in WIC dropped significantly between 2010 and 2018.

Extend and expand other programs that pull families out of poverty and reduce food insecurity, such as the expanded Child Tax Credit. Families began receiving expanded Child Tax Credit payments this summer. After just the first month of payments, the percentage of families with children reporting that they sometimes or often did not have enough to eat declined significantly.

Develop a consistent approach to collecting timely data on obesity rates, including data organized by race, ethnicity and income level. We can’t change what we can’t or don’t measure. Some data on obesity rates by race and ethnicity are available, but not nearly enough. Being able to track rates and changes over time among different groups in New Jersey would help to ensure that our strategies are grounded in equity.

We know what must happen so that children and families in New Jersey can become healthier. If we’re serious about ushering in equity and opportunity, we cannot waste another day.

Amelie Ramirez is director of Salud America!, a national Latino-focused organization based at UT Health San Antonio.

Maisha Simmons is director of New Jersey Grantmaking at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the largest philanthropy in New Jersey and the largest focused on health in the nation.

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