OBESITY IN KIDS From fat TO FIT

More fruits, vegetables and exercise -- the hard road to a skinny life.
By ALISON ROBERTS
SCRIPPS HOWARD
Daniel Tucker is the chef de fruit smoothie on this particular afternoon.
At first, the 11-year-old, frowning over the cutting board, seems a little anxious and hesitant. Perhaps he's self-conscious; it's not often that a newspaper reporter and photographer watch him whip up an after-school snack.
But the recipe is forgiving: Cut up fruit of any type in whatever proportions that appeal. Grab some crushed ice from the dispenser in the refrigerator door, put it all in a blender, emulsify it and serve.
Tucker has bananas, strawberries and raspberries. His stepsister, Gabrielle Ortega, also 11, suggests more strawberries, fewer raspberries and more ice.
But Daniel asserts his authority as the one with his finger on the blender trigger. "I'll be the real judge of this," he said, his culinary confidence growing.
Daniel seems relieved and finally smiles as he pours out the finished four-star libation -- pretty in pink, silky smooth, just the right mix of tart and sweet.
Simple as the recipe is, it's more than just a snack; it may also be a lifesaver in the war against obesity.
As childhood becomes safer and healthier in some ways -- thanks to seat belts, car seats, vaccines, helmet laws and the like -- the way we eat (and don't exercise) outdoes the gains. Some experts say this generation of American children could see a decline in lifespan for the first time in modern life, because of complications from being fat and sedentary.
Clarion call
The calls for a healthier lifestyle -- more action, more fruits and vegetables -- are getting louder, and their tone is more urgent.
"You talk to your kids about drugs and alcohol. You even got through that conversation about sex. Now, isn't it time you talked to them about . . . lunch?"
Those funny-but-serious lines open a "School Daze" ad, produced by the California Department of Health Services' California Nutrition Network for Healthy Active Families, in conjunction with the National 5 a Day Program.
It's one of two TV ads. The other, called "Paper Dolls," shows a girl cutting paper figures that get larger and larger, visually underscoring the message that kids are getting bigger and bigger.
The overall message is simple. Serve kids five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables and have them get 60 minutes of physical activity every day.
What's new about these ads is the almost-scary tone, designed to shake people into recognizing the problem. That makes these the campaign's first "issue-oriented" ads, akin to those used in anti-smoking campaigns, according to David Ginsburg, who oversees the California 5 a Day campaign as assistant chief of the Cancer Prevention and Nutrition Section of the California Department of Health Services.
"We're trying to say the obesity crisis is serious; you need to talk to your kids about eating just as you do about tobacco, alcohol and drugs," Ginsburg said.
Innovative approach
The new ads are a good first serving of information, said Kelly Brownell, director of the Center for Eating and Weight Disorders at Yale University, and author (with Katherine Battle Horgen) of "Food Fight: The Inside Story of the Food Industry, America's Obesity Crisis, and What We Can Do About It," published by McGraw-Hill last year.
"I think those spots are really quite innovative; they're colorful, lively and persuasive," Brownell said. "California really led the country in doing innovative work on the smoking topic and, thankfully, they're now working on this."
Brownell has been part of another surprising vehicle for nutrition education as one of the experts interviewed on camera in "Super Size Me," a popular documentary in which moviemaker Morgan Spurlock tracks his experience and expanding waistline while eating nothing but McDonald's fare for a month. But Brownell said no single movie or ad campaign will make us slim down. (McDonald's announced the phase-out of super-sizing, except during promotions, after the movie came out.)
"I think the 'Super Size Me' movie was quite powerful, but the problems that we face are so daunting. The food environment is so overwhelming and the food industry is so powerful, no one thing we do will solve the problem," Brownell said.
It's not easy to tune in the public ads amid the din of eat-more advertising. Food and beverage makers and restaurants, taken together, are the second largest advertising group in the United States, behind the automobile industry. They spend more than $10 billion annually to reach kids.
Teaching them how
But don't we already know how we should eat? How many food-pyramid and calorie charts do we need to see before we get it? "I think most people do know what they should do; the challenge is making it easy and desirable to do it," Brownell said.
Making it as easy and appealing as a hot cinnamon roll is Ramona Mosley's mission, as program director for the Children's 5 a Day-Power Play campaign. She serves 14 counties in Northern California. "It's one thing to say, 'Eat healthy,' but we need to say how," Mosley said.
Her nonprofit agency offers training and workshops for all sorts of groups, from parents to teachers and organizations such as the Boys and Girls Clubs, to promote healthy diets and physical activity.
Kat Givens uses materials and tips from Mosley's program to help participants she works with at a learning center in an affordable housing complex.
She introduces after-school snacks -- with recipes to take home -- to kids there. And she has learned a lot about what they will eat: One of the hits is "ants on a log," celery stalks with cream cheese or peanut butter spread in the grooves and topped with raisins. A little ranch dressing for dipping makes piles of raw veggies disappear.
The Tucker family has found a spoonful of smoothie makes the dietary medicine go down in a most delightful way, judging by the way they slurp Daniel's concoction: Mom Mercedes Tucker, dad T.C. Tucker and the kids -- Gabrielle, and Joshua Ortega 12.
Mercedes Tucker, a 38-year old fourth-grade teacher, pulls out a book that includes the smoothie recipe and was given to students at school as part of the California Children's 5 a Day-Power Play Campaign. The book, in Spanish and English, is called "Kids . . . Get Cookin' " and features celebrities like NBA star Shaquille O'Neal, ice skater Michelle Kwan and singer Brandy promoting fruit-and-veggie recipes.
Her husband does his part too, cutting up fruit and leaving it in the fridge for easy snacking, and encouraging the kids to work out on his gym equipment in the garage.
When the kids are asked if the nutrition assemblies and parental talks make any difference, they answer yes, kind of, maybe.
"It could, but it has and it hasn't," Daniel said, diplomatically.
"I still eat candy, but not as much," Josh said.