Submitted by crinadmin on
Summary: UNITED NATIONS (AP) 9 May 2002 --
US Health and Human Services
Secretary Tommy Thompson warned
that three times as many American
children are overweight than 20
years ago, and urged the world to
get moving, ``literally.''
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Health and Human Services Secretary
Tommy Thompson warned that three times as many American
children are overweight than 20 years ago, and urged the world
to get moving, ``literally.''
Speaking at the United Nations summit on children in New York,
Thompson said Wednesday the overall health of American
children was improving, with fewer living in poverty and more
vaccinated against measles, mumps and tetanus.
But ``too many American children, and children throughout the
industrialized world, are inactive. And the consequences are
being found in deteriorating health for many children,'' Thompson
said.
``We must get the world moving, literally. And we must begin
with our children'' he said.
Thompson also stressed the importance of promoting ``healthy
behaviors and right choices for young people,'' including sexual
abstinence and close parent-child relationships.
As officials from 189 countries work on new strategies for
protecting the world's youth, the United States is still at odds
with other nations over family planning, children's rights, and
``reproductive health'' which some conservatives interpret as
advocating abortion.
The three-day U.N. meeting was first scheduled Sept. 18, but was
postponed because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United
States.
``The events of Sept. 11 make it even more essential that we
gather here today for the sake of children around the world,''
Thompson said.
Association: The New York Times