How young is too young to start worrying about your childs
weight? ABCs Elizabeth Vargas asked, teasing a story by Lisa Stark
about the World Health Organizations new measurements for body mass
index (BMI) on the April 27 World News Tonight.
Under the new guidelines for the first time, Stark
announced, the body mass index will be used for American children
under two.
Starks report, however, ended up a surprising
departure from the medias usual scaremongering.
I dont think that this is another one of the millions
of things that Americans need to obsess about, said Bill Gallagher,
the father of a 15-month old boy. Yeah, added mother Anne Favret,
as long as children seem to be healthy and growing well, I think
most pediatricians will tell you theyre fine.
While Stark reported that doctors insist that its
never too early for keeping track of a babys BMI, she also
included some advice from Dr. Christopher Bolling of the Cincinnati
Childrens Hospital, who cautioned parents not to overreact by
putting their toddlers on a restrictive diet.
Under age two, you never want to limit cholesterol or
fat. Those are important nutrients for brain growth and blood vessel
development, said Bolling.
The solution, concluded Stark, its all about common
sense.
While Starks report was balanced, the
Business & Media Institute has weighed the medias overall treatment of
the obesity
epidemic in the
scales and found it lacking.
Has the Fat Lady Sung?
April 28th, 2006 2:00 PM
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