Lubbock children are among those most at risk for childhood obesity in United States, according to a study in the October issue of Men's Health magazine.
Lubbock ranked No. 99 on a list of the 100 "Fittest or Fattest Cities for Kids," receiving a grade of F for its efforts to keep children at healthy weights. Lubbock came in just ahead of Cheyenne, Wyo., which claimed the title of The Fattest City for Kids.
"I'd say that's pretty true," said Jeremy Waller, owner of The Wall Fitness Club in Lubbock. "Adults don't put much emphasis on being healthy for themselves, and they probably don't for their kids either. It's just easier to pick up junk food than to cook a healthy meal."
According to the magazine, cities were ranked based on the implementation of nutrition and physical-activity programs, the state's physical education requirements, children's fitness by federal standards, adult fitness in general, the number of sports camps, the number of fast food restaurants and the amount of fast food children consume.
Sherry Mulkey, owner of the West Texas Training Center, said the number of sports camps and physical programs alone does not really affect children's health levels.
"There's a tremendous amount of sports activities available, but parents don't take advantage of it," she said. "It's laziness in the parents."
Lubbock is not the only Texas city that ranked poorly on the list. Arlington came in at No. 98, San Antonio was No. 95, Fort Worth ranked No. 90 and Corpus Christi was No. 89. With Dallas at No. 74, Houston at No. 65 and Austin at No. 62, no Texas city ranked in the top half of the list.
One way to fix the problem of overweight children is to teach them healthy things they can do on their own, Waller said.
"If you teach kids at school, teach them healthy recipes and healthy snacks, they're going to go home and want to do that," he said. "Kids are really impressionable. If you tell them they'll be better at sports and things; they'll be motivated to do it."
Mulkey said she believes the problem could be fixed if there were more health-related education programs available for parents.
"A lot of parents think they're feeding their kids properly, but they're not," she said. "Our children are terribly obese. I was at the fair (Saturday) night, and I was just looking around at all the fat kids. It's very sad."
Seattle topped the list, claiming the title of Fittest City for Kids. New York came in second place; Cincinnati in third; Durham, N.C., in fourth and Salt Lake City in fifth.
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