Eat less, move more

Our children are overweight, but expunging vending machines from schools and banning snack commercials from television won't reverse the trend.

Only one change has ever proven to reduce calories and promote health: eating less, moving more. Such simple, good, old-fashioned advice is perhaps the best way to greet staggering research showing nearly one out of every four Washington eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders is overweight or obese.

While much attention has been focused on whether our society prizes thinness to our detriment, the latest health report out of the University of Washington warns of the growing obesity of Washington kids.

Like any social ill, this one carries a steep price. The UW report calculates the cost of obesity and the inactivity and health complications often accompanying it to be around $8.8 billion this year in medical expenses, workers' compensation claims and lost productivity.

A frightening prospect. But solutions won't be found in Congress or some other regulatory body. Answers lie closer to home.

Parents must be more conscious of the contents on their child's plate. Grocery stores can play a role. Non-candy checkout lines exist at most stores. One forward-looking business, the PCC natural foods markets, offers fresh fruit to every kid entering the store. Children munching on something are less likely to hunger for a treat off the shelves.

Another solution would be reversing the absurd trend of schools eliminating recess in favor of more lesson time. Nothing could be more counterproductive to children's well-being. Kids need to get up and move.

Such common sense applies to school-based nutrition as well. No need to ban vending-machine fare. Healthy options such as salads and fruits alongside hamburgers and pizzas offer an appropriate mix.

Eating is one of the last private joys untouched by regulation or legislative fiat. Surely, those of us who need to can, and should, drop a few pounds without a government mandate.