Childhood Obesity
Childhood Obesity - Speaking Candidly with Dr. Art
Arizona's own Dr. Art Mollen is tackling the fight against childhood obesity with free high-tech programs and a foundation dedicated to children.
“The most damaging effects of obesity for children are often the ones you can't see."—Dr. Art Mollen
You may have seen him on Good Morning Arizona, the Oprah Winfrey Show or Entertainment Tonight as a medical correspondent. Having served the Arizona community as an osteopathic family physician for 40 years and counting, his health tips and expert advice have long been sought-after, not only by local media, but by national news outlets to include, Larry King Live and ABC News Nightline. Today, Arizona's own Dr. Art Mollen, known just as “Dr. Art,” is tackling a new health issue—focusing his efforts on Arizona's children and the fight against childhood obesity.
“The obesity epidemic in this country is absolutely astounding and it will require a herculean effort in order to prevent obesity effecting children in the future,” says Dr. Art. In a one-on-one interview with liwi.com, Dr. Art speaks candidly about our nation's obesity crisis, a new childhood obesity foundation he and his wife, Paige, founded two years ago and their goals in changing the lives of children.
Q: The Mollen Foundation dedicated to preventing childhood obesity began two years ago and the “Healthy Kids” program is offered free at the YMCA and three Phoenix Park and Rec. facilities. But, recently you've started using new technology to teach children about nutrition, how does that work?
A: We use interactive technology, referred to as a “white board.” With this “white board,” we are able to deliver a nutritional learning package to these children so they can take these concepts and utilize them in their daily lives.
Q: What are the kids learning?
A: In this program, they're learning how much fiber a food has. Or, a soda may have 17 teaspoons of sugar, if you pour the sugar out, they are seeing that. They are seeing how much fat is in a hamburger. If they eat several ounces of cheese, they are seeing the grams of fat...how much fiber an apple has (4.2 grams of fiber).
They are seeing the difference between foods grown on trees or in the ground, or foods that are manufactured and come out of a factory. Some of these children don't know what a zucchini is, some have never seen cauliflower before. So, it's fun and interactive.
Q: What age is best to reach kids?
A: Somewhere between five and seven is the critical ages where you can actually teach children the difference between say, a candy bar, and how much sugar and calories it has in comparison to an apple. I think if you start at a young enough age, you can potentially turn the clock back to a time where children were not so obese.
They'll just pick up little bits and pieces. Children have such a great intellectual curiosity that they'll want to learn more about this, and if they find that the parent, in cooking at home at night, has a certain interest in it, they might identify with that particular interest.
Q: Many foundations target the parents, but your foundation is sending this message directly to the children, correct?
A: Yes. That is right. We are trying to impact the children. We are trying to teach them what they should be doing in terms of exercise and diet, and learning a little bit about nutrition.
Q: Why do you think the rate of obesity in children is increasing?
A: Technology. I think that technology has had a definitive impact on the obesity epidemic in this country. Children are so technologically advanced, they don't get enough exercise. It's just too easy to use all the different technology they have, and just sit around.
Q: It does seem like it happened quickly and it happened in one generation, what do you think?
A: Yes. The last 30 years in this country has had a definitive impact on obesity, and again it's probably technology that has been the water shed in terms of turning this from one point to the next.
We can certainly blame some of it on schools that are no longer offering a physical education program, we can blame it on fast food restaurants, but what I think it comes down to is technology, and parents. Parents have to be exemplary in terms of their lifestyles so they can teach their children how much they should eat and how much they should exercise.
Q: You're definitely very passionate about this, why?
A: It's become the next issue for me to take on. If we can change one child's life I think that we will have done very, very well. What people don't realize is that when a child becomes overweight, it has an impact on everything that goes on in that child's life...it effects children in so many ways, and it extends over a lifetime.
If they don't change those habits, by the time they reach the age of 12 or 15, they will probably have that extra weight for the rest of their lives. Having a program like this to implement is a Utopian dream for me in terms of being able to make a definitive impact on the lives of children going forward.
Q: What is your ultimate goal or hope for your foundation?
A: With the foundation, I hope to have our own brick-and-mortar facility, where children could come and learn about exercise and nutrition. We'd like to be in a position to go to the schools and offer a program for childhood obesity, so we would have trainers, nutritionists, exercise physiologists and kinesiologists go in and teach children about nutrition and fitness.
Q: Is a program like this enough to turn things around?
A: I think this is a great starting point, this is a catalyst to potentially get a lot of people thinking about this so we can potentially develop a definitive paradigm that other people could model after. If we could develop this specific model that other centers, other cities [could embrace]—if we could get the government to eventually embrace this whole concept—it could disseminate very quickly.
Dr. Art Mollen is also conducting a pilot study with the children participating in his “Healthy Kids” program. The kids' sugar, cholesterol and body fat levels are tested, then re-tested after 10 weeks. The goal is find out how much of an impact a program such as this can have on a child's life. “Obviously, it won't be earth shattering, we're not going to change the world in this initial program,” says Dr. Art. “But, hopefully it will galvanize these children to want to change their lives going forward.”
Facts & Figures:
400 million people worldwide are obese
10% are children
Source: www.MollenFoundation.org
Childhood Obesity Leads To:
-High Cholesterol
-High Blood Pressure
-Heart Disease
-Diabetes
-Emotional Trauma
-Depression
Source: www.MollenFoundation.org
Dr. Art Mollen founded The Mollen Foundation with wife, Paige Mollen. He has been an osteopathic family physician in the Valley for 40 years and is nationally recognized as a health, fitness and preventive medicine expert. Dr. Art is also the founder of The Mollen Clinic, The Mollen Immunization Clinics of North America and Phoenix 10K now celebrating its 36th year. He has authored four bestselling books on health and fitness, continues to practice medicine in the Valley and is the medical correspondent for KTVK-News Channel 3. www.DrArtMollen.com 16100 N. 71st Street, Suite 100, Scottsdale, AZ 85254 Office:480.656.0016
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