Some people may remember being shown the film Super Size Me in middle school health class, or maybe even in high school. Health teachers in many school districts across the United States would play the McDonalds-centered film during units on healthy eating and the dangers of excessive fast-food consumption, which can lead to numerous health issues like obesity, liver damage and more.
American children are not only at risk for health issues due to poor diets, but a number of other factors too 一 such as gun violence. These contributing factors have been causing them to die at rates higher than their counterparts in similarly developed countries, like Australia, France and Finland, just to name a few.
But why?
According to a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), “From 2007 to 2023, children’s health in the United States has steadily decreased across mortality,” specifically in the following areas: “chronic physical, mental, and neurodevelopmental conditions; functional status; and physical and emotional symptom domains.”
The prevalence of chronic illness and conditions within American children has increased greatly, as kids today are more likely than they were in 2021 to develop “depression, anxiety, sleep apnea” as well as “autism, behavioral problems, developmental delays and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder,” NPR reports.
The study also found that between the years of 2010 and 2023, the average American child was 80% more likely to die than children in Europe, meanwhile infants in America are 78% more likely to die.
“The causes of death that appear to be driving the excess deaths,” the study finds, “were prematurity, sudden unexpected infant deaths, and congenital anomalies for infants and firearms, motor vehicle crashes, substance use, and homicide” among those between the ages one and 19.
These scenarios are not new to anyone in America who can see plainly and have the ability to hear, read and think critically. Gun violence among adolescents has been an issue in America for at least 20 years, and school children are more ready to face that possibility than they are to choose what they want for lunch from the cafeteria.
Yet the government remains blind to it, even as it replaces motor vehicle accidents as the leading cause of death among American youth in recent years.
So how can parents help their kids stay healthy and safe in an America where healthcare, healthy food (or any food for that matter), and access to safe medication are seen as luxuries by the corporate and government elite?
How can parents protect their kids when their safety nets and thought-to-be-guaranteed programs are being taken away while the system is actively and so aggressively being rewritten to work against them?
Our children need support. Our parents need support.