2026年6月21日 美国东部时间上午10:19 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
作者：乔恩·拉普克 首席医学记者
乔恩·拉普克医学博士是哥伦比亚广播公司新闻屡获殊荣的首席医学记者。自2006年加入哥伦比亚广播公司新闻以来，拉普克已就卫生医疗领域的各类突发新闻、热点事件以及音乐、生活方式和娱乐明星专访等专题报道发回超过1500篇稿件。
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如果快餐广告歌能变成乘法口诀表，或许我们所有人的数学都会很棒。但眼下，这些广告确实牢牢印在了孩子们的脑海里。超加工食品的营销占儿童每日热量摄入的60%以上，而这与全美儿童肥胖率的急剧上升恰好同步。根据美国疾病控制与预防中心的数据，1970年约每20名儿童中就有1人受肥胖影响；如今这一比例已升至每5人中有1人。
需要明确的是，肥胖率上升的成因是多方面的，包括社会经济、环境和生活方式因素。但谈及饮食，要分辨何为健康、何为不健康往往令人望而却步。
“你看着食品包装背面，心里想着‘没错，这个肯定不行，这个也不行……’然后就会犯难：那这天到底该吃些什么？这真的让人很焦虑，”希瑟·沃尔夫说道。她和女儿格蕾丝正参加宾夕法尼亚州哈里斯堡市基督教青年会的“健康体重与儿童”项目。该项目倡导用传统方式实现健康——合理饮食与锻炼，并着重于改变整个家庭的环境和习惯。
格蕾丝表示她学到的一点是：“高度氢化油，对身体有害。”
在强效新型减肥药（包括尚未获批用于12岁以下儿童的GLP-1类药物）问世的时代，一个关键问题依然存在：我们该如何从一开始就防止下一代患上肥胖？
今年4月，美国食品药品监督管理局局长马蒂·马卡里博士（现已离任该职位）表示，他希望美国人的饮食能更注重蛋白质、水果和蔬菜、健康脂肪以及全谷物，减少超加工食品的摄入。“这不是我国儿童的意志力问题，”他说，“问题在于我们将高度成瘾、高度人工化的食品摆在了他们面前。”
尽管马卡里认同营销商是问题的一部分，但他表示：“我们希望看到更多食品营养信息，哪怕是印在包装正面也好。我们还希望看到学校采购真正的食物，而非超加工食品。”
谢拉·米切尔的女儿迈拉克尔在新冠疫情期间体重开始增加。“意大利面和碳水化合物是她的最爱，”谢拉说，“而且她喝的饮料里也含有大量热量。”
如今，六年过去了，基督教青年会的项目正在帮助迈拉克尔一家改善健康状况。
迈拉克尔表示她意识到了这个项目的重要性：“健康饮食能帮我减重，也能让我不会比本该的年纪更早失去生命。”
“她想吃朋友们吃的东西，”谢拉说，“她想和大家分享零食、共进午餐。我们一直想找一个能让她真正明白‘食物可以吃，但要适量’的项目。”
儿童肥胖会增加晚年罹患糖尿病、心脏病甚至癌症等疾病的风险。
哈莱姆儿童区首席教育官夸梅·奥乌苏-凯塞负责“健康哈莱姆”项目，该项目专注于肥胖预防。“从健康福祉的角度来看，儿童肥胖是年轻人面临的最令人望而生畏的挑战之一，”他说，“如果健康的定时炸弹正等待着我们的年轻人，那么我们在优质教育、丰富活动和体验上的投入又有什么意义呢？”
“这关乎拥抱整个社区。这就是哈莱姆儿童区的制胜秘诀。我们的设计初衷就是覆盖足够多的年轻人，从而实现文化转变。”
奥乌苏-凯塞表示，为应对儿童肥胖问题，“我们要确保年轻人积极运动。我们要确保年轻人掌握营养知识和健康意识。每年我们都会向哈莱姆社区分发约5万至7万磅的新鲜农产品。因此，正是将营养知识、烹饪教学、青少年体育活动与社区支持相结合，才有助于改变文化氛围。”
基督教青年会和哈莱姆的两个项目都强调让家庭、学校、朋友甚至邻居共同参与。
12岁的卢克曼告诉记者：“我不喜欢薯条，因为上面盐太多了。”
是谁教他要少吃盐的？“我妈妈。她说如果吃太多盐，会得心脏病。我不想那样。”
两个项目也都注重让孩子成为自身健康进步的主导者。
迈拉克尔的母亲谢拉说：“控制分量是最难的事，但也是她知道极其重要的一点。有时候我会撞见她早上给自己冲麦片时拿量杯。她会先把麦片倒进量杯，再倒进碗里。”
所有孩子都清楚自己应该吃什么——蔬菜、沙拉、水果——以及为什么要这么吃。“这样我就能减重，也能对自己感觉更好，”卡梅伦说。
哈桑指出：“这样我才能变得更强壮，更有运动天赋。”
但在家里营造支持健康的环境并非易事。谢拉说：“要让我丈夫也参与进来很难，因为他疼女儿。所以只要女儿开口要，他就会说‘好啊，没问题’。这时候我就得说‘不行，宝贝，不能给’。说‘好’总是很容易。说‘不’还要看着她失望的样子，太难了。但我们知道，这么做是为了她和整个家庭的长远利益。”
这也意味着家人会一起庆祝每一个小胜利。谢拉说，当迈拉克尔试穿衣服时，“她会说‘以前我穿不上这条牛仔裤’。我就会说‘看到没？这就是我们说的小胜利’。如果她没有立刻看到效果，就会有点沮丧。但我会一直安慰她，‘这管用的。我保证，真的管用’。”
而对于格蕾丝这样的孩子来说，减重的意义远不止于体重秤上的数字。
“这让我感觉真的很健康、很开心，”她说，“你可以更活跃，比如去朋友家的时候，可以真的和他们一起玩，而不只是坐在他们的沙发上看电影。你可以在他们家的蹦床上跳来跳去，或者出去遛遛他们的狗之类的。那种感觉真的很棒！”
如需了解更多信息：
- 基督教青年会“健康体重与儿童”项目
- 宾夕法尼亚州哈里斯堡市基督教青年会“健康体重与儿童”项目
- 哈莱姆儿童区“健康哈莱姆”项目
- 前美国食品药品监督管理局局长马蒂·马卡里博士
本文由玛丽·拉法利制作。编辑：杰森·施密特
Fighting childhood obesity, for a healthier, longer life
June 21, 2026 10:19 AM EDT / CBS News
By
Jon LaPook Chief Medical Correspondent
Jon LaPook, M.D. is the award-winning chief medical correspondent for CBS News. Since joining CBS News in 2006, LaPook has delivered more than 1,500 reports on a wide variety of breaking news and trending stories in the health and medical fields, as well as feature stories on music, lifestyle and profiles of entertainment stars.
Read Full Bio
If fast-food jingles were multiplication tables, perhaps we’d all be good at math. In the meantime, those ads sure are stuck in the brains of kids. The marketing of ultra-processed food, which accounts for more than 60 percent of calories for children, has coincided with a dramatic increase in childhood obesity across the United States. In 1970, about 1 in 20 children were affected by obesity; today, it’s 1 in 5, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
CDC
To be clear, there are multiple causes for the rise, including socioeconomic, environmental and lifestyle factors. But when it comes to diet, figuring out what’s healthy and what is not can be daunting.
“You look at the back of the label and you’re like, ‘Yeah, that’s no good, that’s no good …’ And it’s like, so then, what do you eat some days? It’s scary,” said Heather Wolfe. She and her daughter, Grace, are enrolled in the YMCA’s “Healthy Weight and Your Child” program in Harrisburg, Pa. The program preaches getting healthy the old-fashioned way – eating right and exercising – and focuses on changing the environment and habits of the entire family.
Grace says one thing she’s learned: “Highly-hydrogenated oils, that’s bad for you.”
In an age of powerful new weight loss drugs, including GLP-1s (not yet approved for children under 12), a crucial question remains: how do we prevent future generations from becoming obese in the first place?
In April, FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary (who has since left the agency) said he would like to see Americans eating diets that emphasize protein, fruit and vegetables, healthy fats, and whole grains, and reduce highly-processed foods. “This is not a willpower problem with our nation’s kids,” he said. “This is a problem with us putting highly-addictive, highly-chemicalized food in front of them.”
While he agrees marketers are part of the problem, Makary said, “We’d like to see more information, even on the front of the package of food. We’d like to see schools buying real food instead of ultra-processed food.”
Shayla Mitchell’s daughter, Miracle, began gaining weight during the COVID pandemic. “Pastas and carbs are her thing,” Shayla said. “And she drinks a lot of her calories, too.”
Now, six years later, the YMCA program is helping Miracle’s family work on improving her health.
Physical activity is part of the YMCA’s “Healthy Weight and Your Child” program. CBS News
Miracle says she recognizes the program’s importance: “Healthy foods is for me to lose weight and for me not to lose my life a little bit more faster than I’m supposed to.”
“She wants to be able to eat what her friends are eating,” said Shayla. “She wants to be able to share snacks and share lunch. We really wanted to find a program where she was going to really learn why you can have it, but in moderation.”
Childhood obesity increases the risk of problems later in life, such as diabetes, heart disease, and even cancer.
Harlem Children’s Zone CEP Kwame Owusu-Kesse heads up the “Healthy Harlem” program, which focuses on prevention. “Childhood obesity is one of the most daunting challenges that young people face from a health and wellness perspective,” he said. “What good is this investment in quality education, enrichments and exposures, if there’s a health ticking time bomb awaiting our young people?
“This is about wrapping our arms around a community. That is the secret sauce of the Harlem Children’s Zone. We were designed to be able to hit a critical mass of young people so that you shift culture.”
To address childhood obesity, Owusu-Kesse said, “We’re making sure that our young people are moving. We want to make sure our young people have nutrition knowledge and awareness. And every year we distribute somewhere between 50,000 to 70,000 pounds of fresh produce throughout our Harlem community. So, it’s this marriage of nutrition knowledge, cooking, physical activity for the young person, and the community, that helps change the culture.”
Learning the importance of nutrition knowledge is part of the Harlem Children’s Zone’s “Healthy Harlem” program. CBS News
Both the YMCA and Harlem programs focus on involving the family, schools, friends, and even neighbors.
Twelve-year-old Luqman told us, “I don’t like the french fries, because it has too much salt on it.”
And who taught him about avoiding salt? “My mom. She says if I eat a lot of salt, I can get a heart attack. And I don’t want that to happen.”
Both programs also rely on children becoming agents of their own progress.
Miracle’s mother, Shayla, said, “Portion control is the hardest thing, but it’s one of the things that she knows is super-important. Every now and again I’ll catch her grabbing a measuring cup when she’s making herself cereal in the morning. She’ll pour it into the measuring cup, and then pour it into her bowl.”
All the kids know exactly what they’re supposed to eat – vegetables, salad, fruit – and why. “So I can, like, lose weight and, like, feel better about myself,” said Cameron.
Hassan noted, “I can be getting more stronger, getting more athletic.”
But creating a supportive environment at the home can be tricky. Shayla said, “Getting my husband to kind of go in with that, ’cause that’s Daddy’s little girl. So, anything she asks for, ‘Okay, yeah. You can have it.’ ‘No, honey, she can’t!’ It’s so easy to say yes. It is harder to say no and see the disappointment. But we know that we’re doing it for the overall benefit of her and the entire family.”
And that means family is also there for the triumphs. Shayla said when Miracle was going through her clothes and trying them on, “She was like, ‘Before, I couldn’t fit these jeans.’ I’m like, ‘See? These are the small wins we’re talking about.’ When she doesn’t see it immediately, it’s kind of like a downer for her. But I keep, you know, reassuring her, ‘It’s working. I promise you, it’s working.’”
And for kids like Grace, weight loss is about so much more than the pounds.
“It makes me really feel healthy, and happy,” she said. “You can be more active and, like, go outside and actually play with your friends if you go over to their house, and not just, like, sit on, like, their couch and watching a movie or something. You can actually jump on their trampoline or, like, go outside, play with their dogs and stuff. So, that’s really nice!”
For more info:
- YMCA’s “Healthy Weight and Your Child” program
- YMCA’s “Healthy Weight and Your Child” in Harrisburg, Pa.
- Harlem Children’s Zone “Healthy Harlem” program
- Former FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary
Story produced by Mary Raffalli. Editor: Jason Schmidt.
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