Addressing Childhood Obesity

Decatur-Avondale Estates Patch welcomes letters from readers of up to 300 words. Send them to renee.valdes@patch.com. 

Dear Editor,

Georgia took center stage in the national debate over childhood obesity last week. Our state ranks second in the nation in childhood obesity with an estimated cost to our health care system of nearly $2.5 billion.

Georgia ranks sixth in the nation as the largest producer of fruits and vegetables, yet according to the Centers for Disease Control fewer than 14 percent of Georgians consume the recommended daily allowance of fruits and vegetables.

If our children are healthy they can excel – in school, in sports, in life.

That’s why it makes sense to develop farm to school programs that bring farm-fresh foods straight to our school cafeterias. Not only will our children be receiving nutritious lunches, but we can infuse the Georgia economy with additional capital.

A recent University of Georgia study estimates that even a small increase in local farm purchasing would keep hundreds of millions of dollars in local economies, stimulating job growth and protecting Georgia’s farm economy.

Already, we’ve seen successful implementation of farm to table program in Georgia school systems from Douglas County to Decatur and Atlanta to Gwinnett County.

Many of us in the Georgia General Assembly are ready to act. We are working to introduce a resolution that urges the state to address childhood obesity by encouraging farm to table programs through the initiation of task force to strategize program models.

We need our colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support the existing farm to table programs and encourage the school systems in their districts to model themselves after the school systems – both urban and rural – that have successfully taken the lead on these important initiatives.

By supporting these healthy programs, we win at every turn.

The evidence is there.

Healthier kids perform better on testing and are absent less. Diets improve. The economy improves.

We should do this for our children. We should do this for our farmers. We should do it for Georgia.

- Stephanie Stuckey Benfield and Kathy Ashe                                                                                                           

Both Ashe and Stuckey-Benfield are members of Georgia’s House of Representatives