As part of a continuing series focusing on how childhood is changing in America, USA Today (4/13, Szabo) reports that “26% of children now suffer from a long-term health problem, says a 2010 study of more than 5,000 children ages two to eight in the Journal of the American Medical Association.” What’s more, “more than half of children in that study have had some kind of chronic illness — one that limits their abilities or requires special medication, equipment or services for at least 12 months — sometime in the past six years, the study” found. Unfortunately, young children are now “developing diseases once seen only in middle age: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, fatty livers and type 2 diabetes, says Sandra Hassink, a Delaware pediatrician who specializes in weight management.”
