2
HEALTH
UEL
TH W I IT TI would
build upon Detroit' current 'pro­
m. Th city will submit to Dr.
Sullivan comprehe ive pi n to
more are iv ly include children
Poor children are nearly three
times likely to be overweight as
children of middle-cl and affluent
families, ccording to an analysis of
nationally repre entative ample of
6,700 youngsters aged 5 to 17.
Black children, the re earch also
Bnds, are more than three times
Ukely white children to be over-
ight, which is defined as 30% or
ore above the normal ratio of
• Igbt to height for a given age.
• According to the new study, 1�.4
rcent of poor children are over-
Igbt, compared to 5.2 percent' of
children from families with income
at least twice the poverty level, a
group that includes about 60 percent
of American children. About 17.3
percent of Black youngsters are over­
weight compared to 5.3 percent of
white .
TIle combined effect of race and
poverty i even more dramatic: 21.9
percent of Black children living in
poverty are overweight compared to
4.5 percent of middle-class and af­
fluent white youngsters.
THE FINDINGS - WHICH
appear in the winter iss ue of the Jour­
nal of Health Care for the Poor and
Underserved, published by Meharry
Medical College - derive from the
1987 National Medical Care Expen­
:diture Survey, the most recent na-
:tionally representative sampling of
'health care use and expenditures.
: Prepared by Dr. LlewellynJ. Cor­
: neli us, of the Agency for Health Care
Policy and Research of the U.S.
· Department of Health and Human
Services, the paper in the Meharry
journal represents the first publica­
tion of the urvey' results relating to
the health babi ts of children.
The re ults are in distinct contrast
r
FOR HILDBIRTH
from college-educated familie were
regular breakf ters, compared to 7 .
percent of young ters with parents
who failed to finish high chool. In­
come or race, however, do not app ar
to be a ignificant factors in wh ther
children habitually eat breakfast.
seat belts, and hours of sleep per
night. Blacks constitute about 16-
percent of the children' ample and
Hispanics about 10 }?Crcent. Find-
DEAR M.T.:
IdaI body weiQht (IBW) is 100
pomlds for women who are 5 f!et tall,
and k� morebadl inch ..
that. IBW is 110 pourlds for men who
"What these new figures suggest
is tnet, when it comes to being over­
weight, Black adults are more likely
to be obese than white adults; now
we're seeing a similar pattern in
children.
Seat Belts. More th n 17 million
children, or 41.5 percent, do not
regularly wear eat belts. The large t
disparity in use relate to parents'
education - 71.1 percent habitual
use among children of parents who
had at least some college compared
to 42.8 percent for youngsters whose
parents did not complete high chool.
Teenagers are significantly le
likely than younger children to wear
seat belts - 50 percent to 62.8 per­
cent.
ings include the following:
WEIGHT. AS INDICATED,
race and income are powerful predic­
tors of overweight status. So is
parents' educational level: children
of non-high-school graduates are
more than twice as likdy to be ov.er­
weight as children of parents who
attended college. Overall, about 7.5
percent of American children weigh
30 percent or more than the norm for
their height and age.
Eating Breakfast. About eight
million school-aged children in the
United States �ne in five - do not
regularly eat breakfast. The greatest
disparity in breakfast·habits has to do
with age: whereas 88.8 percent of
youngsters aged 5 to 12 regular. eat
breakfast, only 64.2 percent of those
aged 13 to 17 do. ,
Eighty-four percent of children
You r body; your ski n & you Dial-ogue
****
DIALOCtJE: l)(we cheese, and
::COW1t on it to provide plenty ci CIIdum
: for my bones. but now I note that it's
I· <*n loaded withfM. which fm �_,
• avoid. Is there a compromile?
: M;P., Raefonl, sc
.P.: Give tome ci the new
" ... t, " Iftd • :'
vaneael a by. But tUd the labels
� cantuDy. Certain so-aIIed .1ow-Iat"
:: cheaa aml't much lower in fat than
:: cheddar or mouarda. But
· •• better ones � one-third less than the
:. 6-9 ci fat in cheaa.
::
••
.
..
****
****
· : DEAR DIALOCVE: Why is my skin so
· dry in the winter time, and what can
· I do about it?
B.G., Lubbock. TX
, DEAR B.C.: Altho we usually
associate winter with storms. often.
: times cold weather is also dry weather.
: So when you're outside your skin dries
: out. Inside isn't much � because·
: the . is dried by heati,. AD the
: experts emphasiJe thfte techniqua:
: maisIwiar., moisturia. moisUi& Your
, should be able to �mmend
· ' a brand name cream or lotion apeciaDy
, formulated to load up your skin with
: softeninQ, soothi� em&IHen Apply
, daily OYer )'OUI' entire body. Also, select
a toIP with moiSturiaers.
to those of an earlier federal urvey,
the Health and Nutrition Examina­
tion Survey (HANES), conducted
between 1976 to 1980. An analy is
of that survey by a group from Har­
vard University found Obesity to be
considerably more prevalent among
white children than among Black
children.
Notes Dr. Cornelius: "What these
new figures suggest is that, when it
comes to being overweight, Black
adults are more likely to be obese
than white adults; now we're seeing
a similar pattern in children.
Analyzing data from the national­
ly representative survey of 15,000
households, Dr. Cornelius' study
compares the impact of age, gender,
race, and parental income and educa- .
tion on four factors related to the
health of SChool-aged children -
weight, eating breakfast, wearing
are 5 feet taU, and six more pounds for .
each additionII inch.
Since JOU don't whether)lOU are
female or male, here 1ft both: 130 for
� 146 for male.
Pharmacy & Your Health
Medical Arts
Pharmacy
13700 Woodward
869-1800
DAVID N.
ZIMMERMAN
PO, FACA
Pre.ident
Constipation and the Elderly: What to Do
A preoccupation with the number and frequency of bowel movement
is a common occurrence in many elderly individual. Often the concern
centers around misconception about nonnal bowel function and the
mi taken belief that seriou health problems can result if the bowel i not
evacuated every day. Some of the more common cau of con tipation in
the elderly include lack of fiber in the diet, lack of exercise, not enough
water or fluid intake, ide effec of certain medicine uch the narcotic
pain relievers and aluminum-containing antacids, and certain health
problem such diabete and mental depre ion.
ondru Lili y Chan : Prevention of con tipation i be t com-
pli bed by correcting the cu. For example, if there i little or no fiber
in the diet, the older person hould try to eat more fiber-rich food uch
-potatoes, bean ,bran cereal, fre h fruits, and whole grain bread.
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