• For the first time in a century, American kids face a shorter life expectancy than their parents.
  • One in every three kids in the U.S. has a weight problem.
  • Eleven percent of American children and adolescents are obese.
  • In the past three decades, the number of overweight children has more than doubled, with most of the increases occurring during the past ten years.
  • Approximately a third of obese preschoolers and half of obese school-aged children will remain obese as adults.
  • By adolescence, overweight kids have a 70 to 80 percent chance of carrying their extra weight into adulthood.
  • Sodas are sold in at least 60 percent of all public and private middle schools and high schools nationwide.
  • School kids who regularly consume soft drinks take in approximately 200 more calories each day than their classmates who abstain. A daily excess intake of 100 calories a day can easily lead to a 10-pound weight gain in just a year.
  • In 1979, the typical American teen consumed 20.6 gallons of soda per year, but by 1994, the average teen was downing a whopping 64.5 gallons of soft drinks annually.
  • Thirty-four percent of American kids ages two to five drink sodas regularly.
  • The average American gets 27 percent of total daily energy from junk foods, and nearly a third of Americans consume half of their daily calories in the form of these non-nutritious foods.
  • Nine out of ten products that food manufacturers hawk to children meet the criteria for “junk food.”
  • Incredibly, only 1 percent of U.S. children and adolescents currently consume a diet that meets the recommendations of the Food Guide Pyramid.
  • Nearly 60 percent of overweight kids between the ages of five and ten already have at least one risk factor for heart disease.
  • Twenty percent of young Americans have high cholesterol levels, and boys as young as fifteen are developing clogged arteries.
  • For each 250-calorie increase in a child’s daily diet, the risk of developing certain cancers rises by approximately 20 percent.
  • One out of every four obese American child is showing early signs of Type II diabetes, a 50 percent rise in the last ten years.
  • Approximately 30 percent of obese American children have been diagnosed with asthma, compared with 5 to 12 percent of the general population.
  • Children with one obese parent have a 40 percent chance of becoming overweight or obese themselves.
  • In families where both parents are obese, nearly 80 percent of children will develop the condition.
  • Of mothers and fathers whose children met the criteria for obesity, 35 percent of those parents did not perceive their children as having a weight problem at all.
  • Newborns who are breastfed for the first six months of their life are 22 percent less likely to become obese throughout childhood than formula-fed babies.
  • On a daily basis, the average American child spends four to five hours watching TV.
  • Kids who rack up more than five hours of TV viewing a day are nearly five times more likely to become overweight as those who watch two hours or less a day.
  • Only 11 percent of American kids watch two hours or less of TV a day.
  • An estimated 40 percent of American kids have TVs in their bedroom, and nearly half have video games as well.
  • Ninety percent of boys play video games more than four hours per week.
  • Most kids spend twice as much time watching TV or playing video games as they do exercising.
  • Skipping breakfast is strongly linked to the development of obesity, and a third of American kids and adults skip breakfast on a regular basis.
  • Fewer than half of American students are currently enrolled in physical education classes.
  • High school enrollment in PE classes dropped from 42 percent in 1991 to just 25 percent in 1995.
  • Nearly half of U.S. youngsters between the ages of twelve and twenty-one are not regularly active.
  • Children of active parents are six times more likely to be physically active than kids whose parents are couch potatoes.
  • Only about 20 percent of American kids and adults manage to squeeze regular workouts into their daily lives.