Women's council hears about childhood obesity, teen pregnancy

Dr. Richard R. Nugent, chief of the Family Health Branch of the Center for Health Advancement of the Arkansas Department of Health, discussed childhood obesity in Arkansas schools as well as teen pregnancy at Tuesday's quarterly Conway Regional Women's Council luncheon.

First, he presented an assessment of childhood and adolescent obesity in the state. Act 1220, which the Legislature passed in 2003, was unique in the nation, he said.

"No other state approached (childhood obesity) this way," he said. The key provisions called for the controlled use of vending machines and required schools to disclose to parents the funds received from vending machine contracts.

Nugent served on the Child Health Advisory Committee, which made recommendations to the state Board of Education, including introducing BMI measurements with reports to parents, he said. More active time for students, including recess, physical education and after-school activities, were also recommended.

BMI stands for body mass index, a number calculated from height and weight. For children, a growth chart must be employed when figuring BMI, Nugent said. The word "obese" was not used in reporting, only "overweight" or "at risk for overweight."

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In Arkansas schools in 2003-2004, 60 percent of children were reported to be normal weight; 21 percent were overweight, 17 percent were at risk for overweight, and 2 percent were underweight, Nugent said. In 2004-2005, the figures were the same.

Numbers were also compiled in 2004-2005 for ethnicity and gender as well as grade and gender. The ethnicity and gender chart showed that Caucasian females had the lowest incidence of overweight, at 17 percent, while Hispanic males had the highest rate, at 31 percent. Caucasian males had a 22 percent rate of overweight; black females, 25 percent; black males, 22 percent; and Hispanic females, 22 percent. The grade and gender chart showed that children's weight peaked in the sixth grade for boys and seventh grade for girls, then tapered off in later grades. Also, a BMI study by county showed that Faulkner County's average was below the state average of 38.20 percent, Nugent said.

Not all children can be judged as having a valid height and weight when it comes to measuring BMI, Nugent said. Only 81.8 percent had valid data, he said.

Overall, in the four years BMI has been reported, the state results for overweight are as follows: 2003-2004, 20.9 percent; 2004-2005, 20.8 percent; 2005-2006, 20.5 percent; 2006-2007, 20.6 percent.

Nugent said the results are "flat, not a decline. We have arrested the obesity trend. This is data the (Centers for Disease Control) does not have from any other state."

Teen pregnancy

Nugent began his brief talk on teen pregnancy by saying it is difficult to count teen pregnancies, especially if the teen is only pregnant for a short time. However, he noted, there is very little use of abortion in Arkansas, and so the number of births to teen mothers and the number of teen pregnancies are about the same.

Nugent said teen pregnancies declined from 2001 to 2003 because of grant funding available to programs that emphasized abstinence. Rates have since increased. One problem with teen pregnancies, he said, is a higher rate of infant mortality.

Nugent alluded to a survey titled "With One Voice" created by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. The survey asks teens and parents the same questions about sex, abstinence, contraception and other issues and reports the answers. One answer on the survey indicated that parents are the most influential source when it comes to teens' decisions about sex.

Nugent said the survey is a useful document for parents to use in talking to their kids. The document can be downloaded at www.thenationalcampaign.org.

"If a large portion of the population changes their behavior, we can see the result and we can say this is the right thing," Nugent said.

For more information regarding the Conway Regional Women's Council, call 501-513-5771 or send an e-mail to foundation@conwayregional.org

(Staff writer Rachel Parker Dickerson can be reached by e-mail at rachel.dickerson@thecabin.net or by phone at 505-1277. Send us your news at www.thecabin.net/submit)