WEEK 40 Sept 23rd to 29th 2002

   22 MILLION CHILDREN TOO FAT

   22 million children in wealthy countries are too fat, to the point of living dangerously, according to WHF (World Heart Federation). The main reason is quite simply that the children virtually have stopped moving. They don't move around as part of their daily routine, and necessary exercise is almost non-existing. This dangerous development is a result of industrializing and growing national wealth, and is more pronounced the wealthier a given nation is. Children do not walk anymore. They might ride a bus a few hundred meters up a moderate slope. The parents are driving them to school, driving them from the school, driving them everywhere.
   The WDF is calling this an extremely alarming development and says it will result in a flow of heart patients in a twenty, thirty years time. Many of today's children will even find themselves with various heart diseases and even heart failure in a fairly young age.