Julie's Health Club: Top 10 children's health concerns

Gracie Cavnar
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Adults see obesity as the top health threat to children in their communities--but not necessarily their own kids--and many believe the problem is getting worse, according to a new poll. For the third year in a row, childhood obesity topped the list with nearly 40 percent of the 2,064 adults surveyed ranking it as a "big problem." Drug abuse (30 percent) and smoking and tobacco use (29 percent) rounded out the top three.

When broken down by race, black adults rated smoking as the top health threat to children, followed by teen pregnancy and obesity. Hispanic adults cited drug abuse; obesity was No. 2.

"At the national level, obesity as a problem is on par with youth smoking; both have rates similar to non-marijuana illicit drug use among teens," said pediatrician Matthew Davis, director of the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health.

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