Colorado School Children (photo courtesy of Library of Congress, circa 1915)

The number of Americans who are obese continues rising and now represents 30% of the population, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That’s a 100% increase from 25 years ago. American adults are now more likely to be obese than to be cigarette smokers. Some believe that obesity will soon overtake smoking as the leading cause of preventable death.

It’s easy to conclude that America’s adults are doing a pretty poor job when it comes to reading food labels to keep some semblance of a healthy diet. How else to explain heart disease claiming the lives of 1 million Americans every year and a childhood obesity epidemic growing to frightful proportions?

There are a growing number of dieticians who believe it’s time to give the kids a chance to do some food label reading. Together with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), they advocate teaching children to read food labels themselves instead of relying on mom and dad. The FDA partnered with the Cartoon Network to launch a public education campaign encouraging children to read the nutrition facts on food labels.

We think the move to get kids reading food labels is a very healthy development. Considering some of the stats cited above, there’s an excellent chance the kids will do a better job than the grown ups have been doing.

To read an Associated Press article on the topic as it was posted by Google News go to: Dietitians Urge Kids to Read Food Labels

To visit the Cartoon Network web site that teaches kids to read food labels go to: Spot the Block, Get your food facts first!