Despite its obvious sizzle, scapegoating junk food isn’t the answer; better school nutrition and less fast food is not the panacea for this public health crisis. A big part of the problem is that many children have very few options after school to do anything other than sit in front of television or computer screens or hang out on their neighborhood streets.

I’ll be the first to admit that it’s very easy to blame the fast food industry and junk food in general for the obesity epidemic that this country is facing. Perhaps there is more to the problem. Who would’ve thought that the socioeconomic condition of some children has a direct effect on whether they are obese and suffer from health illnesses later in their lives. Parents have to take some responsibility but how much is really deserved. Take for instance so called latchkey kids who are home alone because their parents are still away at work when they arrive from school. How can you really blame parents for that when they are trying to make ends meet.

Approximately 5 million children under the age of 12, most of them African-American or Latino, living in poor neighborhoods, spend their time after school home alone. The result is a host of potential problems that compromise their healthy development — social, intellectual, and physical — into adulthood. Among these problems is childhood obesity, which is of epidemic proportions among America’s African-American and Latino children, 9 million of whom are now obese.

Unfortunately afterschool programs which can be beneficial to young people are usually the first to get cut when budget cuts come calling. Here in California Arnold would much rather cozy up with big business than help out our youth. It really is up to the community leaders across the country to say enough is enough and start implementing solutions to the problem of obesity such as youth afterschool programs.

The very same after school programs that provide academic help and cultural enrichment can also counter obesity by encouraging physical activity in a supportive and secure environment.

Via / The Boston Globe