Obesity among kids has gone up for decades — latest study shows is at record levels. Local experts give their top tips
By Matthew Liptak
Childhood obesity has been growing in America since the early 1970s when rates included 5% of the childhood population. The problem began to snowball over several decades when the internet became a prized public resource.
By 1994, the CDC found childhood obesity in the United States for youth between 2 and 19 had risen to double digits, at 10%. By 2006, 20 years ago, that percentage had risen to 15%. And a 2026 CDC report released earlier this year, found that at this point upwards of 19% of American youth are now obese, based on their body mass index.
What can be done?
Two Upstate New York expert clinicians offer readers their top tips on confronting the problem.
Both experts found multiple factors to be at the bottom of this weighty problem.
Allison Bowers, a practicing registered dietitian with Colgate University and board member of the New York State Academy of Nutrition, as well as Sanford J. Mayer, a pediatrician and professor at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, believes it’s a tough challenge. But parents have options.
Here are their recommendations:
Allison Bowers, registered dietitian and mother of a 2 and 4-year-old
Bowers believes both parents and providers should be addressing important questions when they talk about the child’s health, often at the doctor’s office, even if there is a limited amount of time to discuss them. The doctor should be asking: What is your biggest barrier to good nutrition right now? What does healthy eating look like to your family right now? What does your exercise look like? Do you have any other questions?
Mom and dad should ask: What is my child’s overall clinical picture? What are some healthy, well-rounded snacks?
Parents also have some control over their children’ s diet and daily routine. She advised:
1. You don’t need to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, frozen and canned work well too.
2. Consider low-priced whole grains, like oats or Cheerio-like cereals. Kids’ average need for fiber is 20-38 grams a day, reports indicate, but they are only getting 11 to 16 grams on average. The causes, Bowers believes, are sugary beverages and large portion sizes at meals. “Fiber is something that fills you up. In theory, you could actually be eating excess calories without getting that full feeling,” she said.
3. Think carefully about juices, which are often saturated with sugar. Children younger than 2 shouldn’t have any added sugar or at least it should be limited as much as possible. “Keep to four ounces a day,” she said. “Just be very careful that that is not the child’s only serving of fruits or vegetables.”
4. And keep in mind, natural sugars are healthier than processed sugars. Excess artificial sweetener can also cause weight gain by tricking the brain into thinking it’s receiving sugar but not getting it, so you end up eating more.
5. Check out eatright.org and eatrightny.org as a diet resource and to consider accessing help from a professional dietician. Many insurances cover diet counseling, Bowers added. And when they don’t, some dieticians offer a sliding scale of pay.
Sanford J. Mayer, Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, University of Rochester School of Medicine.
As a Rochester pediatrician, Mayer was involved with the 5-2-1-0 Be A Healthy Hero campaign funded by the Greater Rochester Health Foundation between 2008–2010. The initiatives, at the end of the first decade of this century, encouraged both area pediatricians and family medicine providers to do a deeper dive regarding diet with their patients at office visits. That included the 5-2-1-0 rule of thumb:
5: Eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables.
2: Limit recreational screen time to two hours or less.
1: Get at least one hour of physical activity.
0: Consume zero sugary drinks, replacing them with water or low-fat milk.
Mayer also had some additional recommendations for parents today, including eating together as a family, breastfeeding babies, as well as making sure children get adequate sleep.
He felt that although the diet initiatives in Rochester from 2008 were groundbreaking, the overall impact to change the community trajectory was a failure, as childhood obesity rates have continued to climb.
“Changing behaviors is a very difficult thing,” he said.
Both clinicians recognized that hardest-hit populations from obesity are those in poorer neighborhoods, with less access to healthy, unprocessed food for their families.
“It is far cheaper to buy a Happy Meal than it is to go to Wegmans and shop for fresh fruits and vegetables and everything else,” Mayer said. “It’s quicker too.”
Although the advice both clinicians give is grounded in science, Bowers advises parents against a one-way-fits-all mentality for their individual child. Every child is different and unique. While the overall recommendations may help put an end to the rise of childhood obesity, each person has their own health journey in life.
“Nutrition, especially for children, is very nuanced and needs to be individualized,” she said. “Lifestyles are different.”