Finally, a positive solution regarding America’s difficult and costly campaign to stem childhood obesity is emerging. For the thousands of children and their families who are currently battling with childhood obesity, this good news is long awaited.
Indeed, the risk factors for childhood obesity read like a checklist of ailments that only a generation ago would never have been linked to children and diet: heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and of course, social ridicule and alienation [i]. This latter consequence of childhood obesity — ridicule and alienation — has the dual effect of damaging a child both physically and emotionally far beyond childhood, and possibly for the rest of his or her natural life.
For years, medical experts have called for a multi-faceted strategy to address this epidemic. It has been clear that any long-term solution must be fought on four major fronts: physical activity, sedentary behavior, socioeconomic status, and eating habits [ii].
Yet there is room for another pillar; or, at the very least, the identification of another component that must be a part of any lasting solution. This fifth pillar, or undiscovered component, is smart nutritional supplements.
Many obese children have been told repeatedly by well-intentioned dieticians that eating smart is the key to overcoming this scarring condition. This is easier said than done; especially when emotional eating or an unobserved food addiction [1] may fuel adverse eating habits.
Yet being told to