New Weapons In The War On Fat

Twelve year-old Zach Haber is spending his second summer at Camp Shane, a children's weight loss camp in upstate New York.

CBS News Correspondent Russ Mitchell reports that the kids here not only engage in a variety of physical activities, but also learn about nutrition and ways to maintain a healthy diet.

"We have to think smart about what we eat," said Haber. "Instead of having breaded chicken sandwiches, you have a grilled chicken sandwich or if you even want to have a cheeseburger, don't put ketchup and mustard and all that extra junk on it because then it's adding more calories and more fat to you."

Fourteen percent of children in this country are overweight or obese, compared to just five percent in the late 1970s. Experts say kids are eating more unhealthy foods, bigger portions and simply aren't getting enough exercise. Being obese could lead to chronic health problems such as elevated cholesterol, high blood pressure and type two diabetes, previously considered an adult disease.

"We're starting to see children who are as young as 8 and 10 years old already weighing 150 to 160 pounds," said Dr. Ileana Vargas, a councilor for overweight children and their parents at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. "A good number of our children have high trigyclerides and low HDL and these 10 year olds, 12 year olds, by the time they are 20-something years-old, they're going to be taking the same medications as their grandmother."

Obesity could soon surpass tobacco as the leading cause of preventable death in this country. Each year more than 300,000 people die from obesity-related causes. And that has some attorneys who sued big tobacco looking into potential obesity-related claims against the food industry.

"I don't think we're going to be seeing lawsuits of people who are overweight who said it's the Twinkies that did it," said Richard Daynard of Northeastern University, adding that while food and cigarettes are very different, there are similarities in the ways companies target their marketing to children. "I think we will be seeing consumer protection cases. We'll be seeing class actions, for example, cases brought by the state attorneys general to get the companies to change their marketing behavior. Also perhaps to put in money to run a counter advertising campaign or a nutritional education campaign."

Food manufacturers spent 13 billion dollars last year bombarding children with ads for foods that are high in calories and fat. Four out of five ads targeting kids are for sugary cereals, soft drinks, fast food or snacks.

Food industry groups say it's ultimately up to consumers which foods they choose and how much they eat.

"Litigation and lawsuits is not going to do anything to solve the obesity problem," said Lisa Katic of the Grocery Manufacturers of America. "I think consumers have more information today about diet and nutrition and health than they ever have before. One of the things that might be missing is it's not getting to the people that need it."

Kids like Zach Haber say that even though it's difficult to resist the foods that they see advertised, they're sticking to their new eating habits.

"You can still have those foods you still love just as long as you cut down on the portions," said Haber.
Russ Mitchell