Listen to the panel
• Intro, Laurie Udesky (MP3, 3 minutes, 464KB)
• Cam-Tu Tran, M.D. (MP3, 21 minutes, 3.7MB)
• Elaine Herscher (MP3, 18 minutes, 3.1MB)
• Audience Q&A (MP3, 41 minutes, 6.8MB)
Tips for reporters
• Look at the lunches served at local schools.
• Ask about programs.
• Is there recess or a chance for kids to get up and move?
• Who's in charge of the PE programs and what are they doing?
• Who's measuring and weighing school kids (as states require of school districts)?
• Keep an eye out for improper alliances – food companies and schools, for example.
AHCJ resources
Learn about school-based health programs through presentations and a multimedia presentation from the 2008 Urban Health Journalism Workshop.
Covering Obesity: A Guide for Reporters
This online guide is designed to help journalists cover a wide range of stories, whether writing on deadline or researching a multipart series.
It offers assistance on calculating body mass index, finding obesity statistics on the state level, gauging the quality of school district wellness policies, finding innovative school nutrition policies and much more.
This guide was published with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Changing behavior and educating people about food is key to helping children become fit and avoid obesity, according to the San Francisco pediatrician who spoke at a Nov. 12 panel organized by the Bay Area chapter of AHCJ. She also explained the challenges of children living in cities with a lack of access to fresh food and safe places to play and exercise.
The panel, convened at the San Francisco offices of Bloomberg News, featured a doctor and a journalist who are examining and trying to find solutions to the epidemic of childhood obesity. Journalist and AHCJ member Laurie Udesky moderated.
Cam-Tu Tran, M.D., a pediatrician and director of San Francisco General Hospital's Healthy Lifestyles Clinic, treats overweight children and teens. She and her colleagues are "dealing with ground zero" of the obesity problem, she said, working one-on-one with 1,200 families who are challenged by the lack of fresh food (especially produce) and opportunity or a safe environment to exercise regularly.
"What we do is not all about weight," she said. "It's the behavior" of children and their families that she and her staff set out to change. Part of this involves basic education about food, since people may not realize how much sugar is in fruit juice, for example, or how highly caloric and salty prepared foods tend to be, she said.
Photo by Alex E. Proimos via Flickr
Tran discussed a few of her patients, including a boy, now 16, who weighed more than 200 pounds at age 11, and who learned new habits at the clinic. He is now at a healthy weight. She also touched on the problem of immigrants adopting an American-style diet instead of sticking with a traditional diet of healthier foods – especially prevalent in Latino families, she said.
But many of her young patients share similar habits no matter their ethnic background: they don't eat breakfast or lunch; they snack all day. And they sit in front of television or computer screens for hours.
None of this is news, but Tran's targeted, behavioral approach in her clinic has helped families to improve their health. In some cases, she said, it has been the kids who have been the main advocates for a healthier lifestyle in their homes.
Elaine Herscher, senior managing editor at Consumer Health Interactive and coauthor of "Generation Extra Large: Rescuing Our Children from the Epidemic of Obesity" (Basic Books, 2005), shared a portion of her multimedia project "Fat City, Fit City?" She and a film crew returned to San Antonio, one of the cities she covered in her book, to see how much had improved.
Unfortunately, things seemed worse. The city is still one of the "heaviest" in the nation, the culture of overeating and frequent food-focused festivals are accepted, children are as overweight as ever, type 2 diabetes is on the rise, and no one gets much exercise – despite civic and educational efforts to encourage healthy habits.
Herscher also offered suggestions for reporters interested in doing similar stories in their cities. "Look at the lunches served at local schools. Ask about programs. Is there recess or a chance for kids to get up and move? Who's in charge of the PE programs and what are they doing? Who's measuring and weighing school kids (as states require of school districts)? And keep an eye out for improper alliances – food companies and schools, for example."
One audience member asked about neighborhoods, such as San Francisco's Mission District, which seem to have a plentiful supply of fresh produce available. Tran pointed out that many families are living in small quarters, including single-room occupancy units, with little or no refrigeration and only hot plates for cooking. So the availability of fresh, healthy food is only one part of the problem.
Colleen Paretty is chair of the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Association of Health Care Journalists. To learn more about the chapter, visit the chapter page or e-mail Paretty at Bay.Area.AHCJ@gmail.
