Personal Finance Daily: An active approach to helping fat kids

February 22nd, 2010 | by Admin |

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Our kids are fat, to put it bluntly, or overweight or obese, to put it medically. And who can blame them? Look who they have as role models — us, a supersized America hooked on high-fructose corn syrup and infatuated with french fries.

You can trace at least some of the problem to the end of the age of innocence: Where we used to feel safe dumping our children outside to bicycle or skateboard across the neighborhood in search of pals for a game of pickup ball we now drive them to play dates and group lessons or whatever and don’t much think about the physical activity we deprive them of.

But another part of the problem has been the medical community and attendant institutions like health insurers, who for too long paid little heed to childhood obesity. But those attitudes are changing and at least one initiative from the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation is aiming to reach more than 6 million at-risk kids with targeted help from pediatricians and dieticians.

Hopefully, in the process, we can start getting the parents off their duffs as well.

— Steve Kerch, assistant managing editor

HEALTH CARE

Coverage for treating kids’ obesity gets more comprehensive

Parents of overweight and obese children face a heavy burden in navigating a complex health-care system that does little to help them change their kids’ course. But a growing number of employers and health insurers are trying to make it easier to get such help.
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Anthem faces scrutiny from California lawmakers

Anthem Blue Cross faces the first of two days of legislative scrutiny Tuesday as the insurer goes before a California Assembly committee to justify proposed rate hikes up to 39% or more.
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Lawsuits, state competition key to Republican health plans

Ending “junk” lawsuits, allowing Americans to buy insurance across state lines and creating high-risk insurance pools for the sick are high on Republicans’ list of ideas to bring to the White House health-care “summit” on Thursday.
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CARS

Few used-car bargains in wake of Toyota recalls

Toyota cars, long known for their quality and reliability, are just about holding their own in resale value despite the massive recall of vehicles for sudden-acceleration problems and other issues.
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Toyota U.S. president faces hostile crowd in Washington

Lawmakers sharpened their claws Tuesday ahead of testimony from Toyota’s top U.S. executive relating to the automaker’s handling of safety failures that led to massive recalls worldwide.
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ECONOMY & POLITICS

Almost 10% of FDIC-insured banks on ‘troubled’ list

Driven by expanding problems with commercial real estate loans, the number of distressed banks in the U.S. rose to 702 in the fourth quarter, marking the highest level in 16 years, according to a report released Tuesday by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
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