The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that child obesity has more than tripled in the last 30 years.

“The prevalence of obesity among children ages 6 to 11 years increased from 6.5 percent in 1980 to 19.6 percent in 2008. The prevalence of obesity among adolescents ages 12 to 19 years increased from 5 percent to 18.1 percent,” according to the CDC.

Childhood obesity is defined as a caloric imbalance, meaning too few calories expended for the amount of calories consumed, according to the CDC. It is mediated by genetic, behavioral and environmental factors.

One local author, Sam Bromley of Tomball, addresses the issue in his new children’s book by encouraging children from ages 3 up to the junior high level to cut back on favorite foods and become more active.

Bromley attributes childhood obesity to the lifestyles to which children have adapted through the development of video gaming systems, the availability of fast food and even a perceived increase in murders and kidnapping in the nation making parents want to keep children indoors for protection.

He said he lived not far from where Laura Kate Smither was kidnapped and he remembers his sons were afraid to go outside. Smither, 13, was kidnapped while jogging near her home in Friendswood in 1997. Smither’s body was later found in a pond, the victim of a brutal murder.

The CDC reported that among high school students in 2009, 14 percent were obese. Thirty-six percent of high school students watched television three or more hours a day and 25 percent used computers for three or more hours a day.

Bromley’s book, “Hunka Chunka Monkey Shapes Up,” is about a “chunky” monkey that prefers to eat his favorite snack all day and watch the other animals play. The monkey meets Runka Dunka Donkey, who encourages him to become more active. By becoming more active the monkey found less time to eat.

Later the monkey realized that all the activity had been healthy and he was physically in shape and full of energy. The most notable realization for the monkey and the donkey was that the monkey did not have to stop eating his favorite snacks, but just cut back and become more active.

Bromley wrote the book while working in Iraq. He said while in Iraq he discovered that childhood obesity was ranked as one of the largest issues in the U.S.

He chose to write the book to children rather than parents and teachers because he said values and foundation are instilled at a young age.

“It starts with children,” he said. “You instill value at a very young age and it becomes their foundation.”

He said that he believes when parents read the book to their children they absorb the message as well.

Bromley also believes his solution to cut back on food intake and become more active is being echoed through the school districts.

“The schools are picking up,” he said.

The CDC stated that the solution is better health education, more physical activity programs and healthier school environments.

Magnolia ISD Director of Student Services Matthew Clark said the school Food Services Department has made efforts to provide healthy food.

“I do know that there has been a considerable amount of effort by the department to serve healthy, yet tasty meals,” he said.

Neither Magnolia ISD nor Tomball ISD had available statistics on the percentage of obese students.

For more information about childhood obesity, visit cdc.gov. For more information about Bromley and his book, visit hunkamonkey.com.

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