Childhood obesity found to be ‘prevalent’ in Mississippi

SUMRALL, Miss. (WDAM) – Obesity among the youth of Mississippi is a state health issue.

“According to the Mississippi State Department of Public Health, nearly a quarter of our high schoolers are obese, so we see that this is prevalent in Mississippi”, said Dr. Jamie Lou Rawls, who practices family medicine at Sumrall Medical Center.

Healthier food options can tend to be more expensive while processed food tends to be cheaper, but Rawls laid out a list of what children should be eating per meal.

“Children need 2 to 3 ounces of meat per serving,” Rawls said. “Half the plate needs to be fruits and vegetables of variety.”

Healthy living starts at home with parents, Rawls said, with conversations including talk of a healthy lifestyle, not diets and exercise.

“The focus should be healthy choices and healthy lifestyles, and not diets and losing weight, as that can negatively impact children’s social and emotional health,” Rawls said. “So, the conversation could be like, ‘We are doing this to be healthier, healthy choices and to protect our health as we get older,’ can be really beneficial.”

Rawls said that getting in exercise as a family, like walking outside after dinner or playing in a park for an hour a day can be beneficial to the health of children as well as adults.

For low-income families, some federal government programs such as Women, Infants and Children’s Nutrition Program, offer nutrition classes to teach parents how to shop and cook healthier foods on a budget.

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