Lawmakers MK Moshe Matalon (Israel Our Home) and MK Rachel Adatto (Kadima) have added a new challenge to the Knesset agenda – fighting childhood overweight and obesity. The two are gathering supporters for an initiative that aims to improve childhood health by mandating nutrition education.
Matalon and Adatto have created a bill that would require annual checkups for children and youths at which nurses would determine which youngsters have a tendency towards an unhealthily high body weight. Children and teens who were diagnosed as overweight would be asked to meet with a nutritionist.
In addition, the bill would require schools to teach students for one hour every week about proper nutrition.
"An excess of weight in adolescence is not merely an aesthetic issue; it is one of the major risk factors for chronic illness and early death,” the MKs explained in their bill. They went on to list a number of serious chronic illnesses that may be caused by an excess of body weight, including high blood pressure, diabetes, and various forms of cancer.
Children who are overweight have a 40 percent chance of remaining overweight into adulthood, according to a fact sheet that Matalon and Adatto distributed as part of their campaign. Among teenagers, the situation is even more serious – more than 75 percent of those who are overweight as teens will remain overweight as adults.
According to a poll conducted by the Health Ministry, approximately 30 percent of Israeli adults are overweight, and 15 percent are obese. The percent of Israeli adults suffering from obesity has risen in recent years, analysts found.
According to Matalon, Adatto and their supporters, increasing spending on nutrition education and early diagnoses could save millions of shekels in the long run. By improving health habits among schoolchildren, they say, Israel could end up with fewer overweight adults in the future, leading to lower national health costs.
Health Ministry officials have estimated that NIS 10 billion are spent nationwide each year on treating medical conditions related to excess weight and obesity. The total amount spent on illness stemming from excess weight comes to approximately 20 percent of Israel's health-related spending, they reported.
However, while the MKs predict savings for the Health Ministry in years to come, they are currently demanding more spending from the Education Ministry, which may be reluctant to add another program to its fare. Education Minister Gideon Saar has argued in recent weeks that education in Israel is underfunded in comparison to European countries, and is pushing for a larger budget, to be spent on improving language and math skills, teaching Zionism and democracy, and reducing social gaps.