The Daily Journal – Ginna Parsons
The American Academy of Pediatrics describes severe obesity among children and adolescents as an “epidemic within an epidemic,” one that portends a dramatically shortened life expectancy for today’s generation compared to their parents. “A generation ago, two generations ago, a fat child was a sign parents could afford food for their children,” said Dr. Dan Jones, director of Clinical and Population Sciences at the Mississippi Center for Obesity Research. “You didn’t want your children to be thin. That meant you weren’t feeding them enough.”