Weight drives Young to Adult Pills, Data Says.

[Stuart G]

Source: New York Times.

A growing number of American children are taking drugs for a wide range of chronic conditions related to childhood obesity, according to prescription data from three large organizations.


The numbers, from pharmacy plans Medco Health Solutions, Express Scripts and the marketing data collection company Verispan, indicate that hundreds of thousands of children are taking medication to treat Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and acid reflux — all problems linked to obesity that were practically unheard-of in children two decades ago.

The data, disclosed publicly in recent months or provided at the request of The New York Times, shows that concerns that children will be taking adult medications — heightened recently by a controversial recommendation by a national pediatricians group — are already a reality.

This month, the American Academy of Pediatrics said that more children, as young as 8, should be given cholesterol-lowering drugs. The recommendation was quickly attacked by some experts as a license to put children on grown-up drugs.

While the drugs do help treat the conditions, some doctors fear they are simply a shortcut fix for a problem better addressed by exercise and diet. Even so, some pharmaceutical companies are developing new versions, including flavored ones, of adult medications for children

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/26/business/26kidmed.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

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The Drug Companies are not happy with just hooking us as adults, they want to get us started when we are kids. A real tribute to their greed.

[glowing]

1. hmm.. High Fructose Corn Syrup is "safe". yeah right.

[Stuart G]

2. glowing has a valid point

With "High Fructose Corn Syrup" the food companies try to get us hooked on their crap. Yes, it is not just the drug companies..
..Oh what a tangled web they weave

[Serial Mom]

4. I pledge allegiance to the corporations!

The CHEMICAL companies which developed all the shit to put in food are also involved.

I guess it's the oil companies, the drug companies, the chemical companies and the food companies -

[Joe Bacon]

8. Not only HFCS, but other crap like MSG

BUT especially HFCS, Do some googling and see the link between High fructose corn syrup and Type 2 diabetes. Look at the sudies that show a positive correlation between the increasing use of HFCS and the epidemic of Type 2 diabetes.

But HFCS isn't the only crap making us sick, a whole bunch of other stuff like Nutrasweet, rBST, MSG and the rest are making us all sick.

[WriteDown]

9. HFCS is not to blame....

Although it is not good for you. I would lay this squarely on lack of any physical activity and increased portion size. Kids(and their parents) would much rather sit in front of the TV for 8 hours with a video game than actually go outside and "do" anything. Lazy parents also can't be bothered with trying to entertain their children in healthy ways.

[glowing]

10. Are u kidding? What parent has 8 hrs to sit and watch t.v....

I suppose some out there are still lucky enough to have a 40 hr. work week and be paid decently.

[AndyTiedye]

11. Gotta Be More Than That

The OP says these conditions were "unheard of" in children until recently.
It was not "unheard of" for kids to be fat.

[WriteDown]

12. I blame that on portion size....

Went out to dinner last night and my plate could've fed 3 people. Not to mention the 2 giant baskets of bread they brought out.

[CoffeeCat]

3. This is sickening...

The same parents who would be open to putting their "eight year old" on cholesterol-lowering drugs, are the same lazy-ass parents who are
feeding their child the poison that's on the grocery-store shelves.

People are lazy today. We're too busy to cook and pay attention to what our kids are eating. So, they get a steady diet of Happy Meals,
fruit snacks, cheese doodles and Lunchables--and they wash it down with an over-sized container of Powerade or Gatorade.

It really is disgusting--the poisonous food that is marketed to children.

I have two kids--ages 7,8. The food that is advertised during the Nickelodeon and Disney shows--is toxic. Fruit roll ups, juice pouches--and
don't get me started about Lunchables. Those things have more than the RDA of sodium--in one of those things. It's just disgusting. Kids
bring these for lunches at school all of the time.

Most parents do try, but we are fighting an uphill battle. Advertisers market these foods to kids, who beg for them. Then, we've got
high-fructose corn syrup in everything--even yogurt and granola bars, which are considered healthy!

I try very hard to feed my kids healthy food, but the way our food is made (with HFCS and hydrogenated fats), combined with the guerrilla
marketing to kids--and the convenience and relative low cost of bad foods--it is challenging!

So, I understand why so many kids are sick! I'm not a perfect parent, but it's obvious in this day and age--you HAVE TO be proactive and
work to feed your child healthy meals. We are fighting an uphill battle.

Also, the price of food these days is killing everyone. Produce, fish, chicken are completely through the roof. It's so expensive to
eat healthy. In my area, I can purchase 4 Happy Meals for the same price as a 3 lb bag of chicken breasts.

It's difficult--but if we don't do the right things--our children will grow up poisoned and suffering and obese.

[Stuart G]

5. TwoSparkles sure has it right...

I am and was addicted to "refined sugar" and "high fructose corn syrup" This addiction sucks. Learned it when I was very young.
And I have fought it most of my life. Am 62, and now normal weight, but it has been a real fight.
..And I want to add this: the belief that these medicines and drugs are all "good for you" and because they are "prescribed by a doctor" is another fallacy..Getting hooked on that belief can cause you misery later. (as it caused for me)
..Certain prescription drugs, if over used, and eventually abused, can destroy your life. I guess Heath Ledger is an example of that. And there are tens of thousands more..unnamed..

[8 track mind]

6. I feel i must share this story....

The martial arts school i used to attend had sparring every friday night. I was in the upper belt ranks and i was required to act as a referee of sorts for the younger kids out on the mat. One night, this obese Mother came in with her obese son who was probably about 8 or 9, clutching a happy meal. Both the mom and the kid looked like hell. At first i thought she might be signing up the kid for classes, but much to my surprise as the kid was wolfing down his happy meal, the mom was helping him put on his sparring gear!!!! The kid had just finished scarfing his last Chicken Mc Nuggett when he came onto the mat and began sparring! It was no great surprise to me that the kid began barfing 30 seconds into the first fight. The mom, however, accused the kid he was fighting for hitting him in the stomach.

This is a prime example of the irresponsibility of parents. They trade their kids health for so called "time saving" convenience.

It's so sad.

[Gman]

7. Unless there is a sound medical condition...

the parents of morbidly obese children should be prosecuted for child abuse and/or endangerment.