Yang Xin teaches you how to spend the summer cool

This generation of young Americans is fatter than ever before, and 14% of them can be classified as obese or overweight. 17-year-old Jenkins is one of them. At the age of 15, he weighed 212 pounds, or 150% of the standard weight. With the help of a nutritionist and family, he changed his eating habits, exercised more, and lost 30 pounds two years later. The comprehensive disciplinary approach, which allows young people and parents to work with exercise therapists, child psychologists, doctors and nutritionists, has proven to be the most effective.

In the past 20 years, the number of children diagnosed with diabetes due to obesity in the United States has doubled, and sleep apnea has increased fivefold. "They are twice their weight," said Angger, of the Obesity Assessment Institute at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where Jenkins was treated."The 14% obesity rate for ages 6-19 is also a triple increase from the 1960s. Experts criticize everything from young people's preference for high-calorie fast food and soft drinks to the quiet lifestyle facilitated by television and computer games. Busy parents also choose faster, high-calorie foods. "It's 7 o'clock now and everyone is hungry. It's much easier to order pizza from outside than to make a balanced meal yourself." Now, experts have helped "emotional eaters"-those who eat when they feel stressed and stressed. People find alternative ways to solve problems.

This is part of the reason for Jenkins. He also had another problem: He was allergic to most fresh fruits and vegetables, and the hospital's dietitian helped him find alternatives-biscuits, cheese, canned peaches and assorted fruit. He rode more bicycles, drank more water, started eating breakfast, and went to the YMCA to work out with his mother, Norma, who participated in "weight supervisor" training to add more salads, rice and other low-calorie foods to his family's diet.

The YMCA spans the country and encourages young people to engage in more sports. President Bush has announced children's fitness initiatives, and former medical administration chief Shakir David Satcher plans to convene a national conference on childhood obesity in Washington in October. In addition, universities and companies are also involved. The University of North Texas provides materials and organizes discussions for young people and parents on healthy eating and exercise. A company that sells sporting goods also provides free "fitness authority" exercise plans to boys and girls clubs across the country.

Jenkins said that after losing weight, his self-image has improved a lot, and he no longer has to wear wide clothes and can go to the swimming pool. The mother said: There is another good thing-"There are more girls calling." She looked at her son and blushed with a smile.