Chew on this recent week’s worth of lunches at a school district in Stanislaus County.

Chicken nuggets. Nachos. Hot dogs. Bean and cheese burritos. Grilled cheese sandwiches.

And that doesn’t account for the soft drinks and snacks children eat at home.

Stanislaus County health officials estimate that more than 15 percent of the children registered in the county’s Child Health and Disability Program in 2001 were obese.

Among fifth-, seventh-, and ninth-graders, it’s closer to 28 percent, according to the county Health Services Agency’s annual health assessment presented Tuesday to the Board of Supervisors.

The numbers – while slightly less than the 2001 state average of 17.5 percent – still are too high, said Phoebe Leung, an associate director with the agency.

The country’s report is part of its awareness campaign for National Public Health Week the week, but was released the same day as another report detailing the problem nationwide.

That study, published in today’s Journal of the American Medical Association, offers a sobering glimpse of what life is like for many obese youngsters nationwide. They are teased about their size, have trouble playing sports and suffer physical ailments linked to their weight.

The study was published in an edition of the journal devoted to obesity research. It comes amid growing concern about the nation’s obesity epidemic and recent data suggesting 15 percent of U.S. youngsters are severely overweight or obese.

In Stanislaus County, Leung said families can help their children by limiting TV and computer time, encouraging more outdoor activities, walking to school when possible, drinking water between meals, decreasing fast food and unhealthy snacks and replacing them with fruits and vegetables.

She said the agency is working with school districts to discourage the sale of sodas and snacks on campus.

“The soda companies sell (bottle) water as well,” she said.

Supervisor Ray Simon said parents – more so than educators – need to set the examples and take responsibility for their children’s diets.

“What it really boils down to is the choices the parents make,” Simon said. “Both parents work. It’s easier to stop and get chicken strips (than to cook). They’re needing to take control of their lives.”

Obesity researcher, Kelly Brownell, who runs a Yale University weight disorders center, said the increasing prevalence of obesity hasn’t made it any less stigmatizing.

“It just breaks your heat,” Brownell said, relating a story from a Yale patient who recalled being absent from school as a child and learning the teacher had told the class, “She’s probably home eating.”

In the national study, 106 children ages 5 to 18 were asked to rate their well-being on physical, emotion and social measures.

The dismal scores were far lower than anticipated, said lead author Dr. Jeffrey Schwimmer, a pediatric gastroenterologist at the University of California at San Diego.

“The magnitude is striking,” Schwimmer said. “The likelihood of significant quality-of-life impairment was profound for obese children.

Obese youngsters were more likely to miss school than healthy, mostly normal-weight kids. Schwimmer said that’s probably because they suffered more weight-related physical ailments and endured more teasing a school.

Low quality of life prevalent

A Journal of the American Medical Association editorial noted that study participants had more than a fivefold increased risk of reporting low quality of life than healthy youngsters.

“It seems clear that one of the most compelling medical challenges of the 21st century is to develop effective strategies to prevent and treat pediatric obesity,” Drs. Jack and Susan Yanovski of the National Institutes of Health said in the editorial.

The study participants filled out questionnaires last year used by pediatricians. The youngsters rated such things as their ability to walk more than one block, play sports, sleep well, get along with others and keep up in school.

Obese youths scored an average of 67 points out of 100 – 16 points lower than a group of 400 mostly normal weight children. The obese children’s scores were similar to quality of life self-ratings from a previously published study of about 100 pediatric cancer patients.

Girls and boys in the study appeared to be equally adversely affected by obesity.

One average, the youngsters were 12 years old, 5-foot-1 and 174 pounds. Their average body-mass index – a ratio of height to weight – was nearly 35. In adults, a BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese but in youngsters the index depends on gender and age.

Obesity-related ailments were common among the participants and included fatty liver disease, obstructive sleep apnea, diabetes and orthopedic problems caused by excess weight.

“Even in the absence of these physical conditions, children and parents reported a low quality of life,” Schwimmer said.

Parents answered the same questionnaires, and their rating of their children’s well-being were ever lower than the youngsters’ self-ratings, he said.

Bee staff writer Jeff Jardine contributed to this report.

Reprinted per mission of the Modesto Bee.