Alabama remains near bottom

The Kids Count 2007 report shows that Alabama remains in the bottom third of states when it comes to childhood obesity and the number of children living in poverty despite having working parents.

In addition, the report shows that between 2 percent to 13 percent of Alabama children live in an immigrant family.

The Kids Count data book is a national and state-by-state effort to track the status of children in the U.S.

Kids Count data is used by schools and children's service agencies across the country to help establish programs to aid children and their families that fall into those categories.

In the category of childhood obesity, the states with the highest rates of overweight or obese youth also have high rates of childhood poverty and generally score low on measures of child well-being. Between 34 percent and 38 percent of Alabama children from ages 10 to 17 are in the overweight or obese category. Other states in the high obesity category include Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Kentucky, West Virginia and Delaware.

Local area health officer Dr. Karen Landers said the Alabama statistics aren't shocking.

"In my 30 years of practicing (pediatrics), I've seen a significant increase in childhood obesity largely due to the vast availability of fast food, supersizing and schools allowing academics as substitutes for physical education," she said. "The past 10 years have been the worst I've seen as far as obesity in children."

But not all the news is bad, she said. Schools have worked hard to follow new state guidelines mandating healthier foods in snack machines and on the cafeteria lunch line.

"Alabama's made a tremendous effort to reduce these statistics, but like anything, it takes educating the population. Parents have to know how to help their children make healthy food choices."

Different programs have helped in the area of childhood obesity, said Tuscumbia Superintendent of Education Joe Walters.

He said he expects to see a decline in the number of obese children in the near future, largely because of the state's determination to implement various nutrition and physical education programs in schools.

"We're only part of the equation at school," Walters said. "We've got to get parents involved and educated on the importance of nutrition and exercise."

As for the high percentage of children living in immigrant families in Alabama, Walters said the most disparaging fact about that number is that most of those children are transient.

"It's difficult for any school system to keep up with the children from (transient) immigrant families, and I don't foresee that number lowering," Walters said.

Landers said the Hispanic population in Franklin and Walker counties makes up the bulk of patients at the pediatric clinics there. The numbers are so high that the health departments there employ full-time translators.

"This is a huge challenge for healthcare because these foreign-born children are uninsured," she said. "Still, they are children who have healthcare needs, too."

She touts Alabama as being the first state to offer health insurance to children from low-income homes, a move that has made a difference in the overall well-being of children.

"This is one thing Alabama has done well," she said. "The All Kids (insurance) program is a commitment Alabama made several years ago and we're seeing healthier children because of it."

According to the Kids Count report, more than half of the nation's low-income or impoverished children live with at least one working parent.

Alabama's rate, with 21 percent to 25 percent of such children, is indicative of the economic climate, according to Kids Count officials.

"We certainly have programs to address those children in our schools," said Walters. "We have breakfast and lunch programs that deal with nutrition, but the greatest challenge is helping those families that work hard all day and are so tired by the time they get home, there's not much left for the children. Helping those children directly has got to be the focus."

TimesDaily staff writer Lisa Singleton-Rickman can be reached at 740-5735 or lisa.singleton-rickman@timesdaily.com