CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Fast food, soft drinks and junk food have played a major role in West Virginia’s high obesity rate and teens across the state want people to know the facts about unhealthy eating habits.
WV FEDUP, a teen-led grassroots resistance, is made up of students focused on improving the health of youth by creating healthier school environments and communities in West Virginia.
The movement is inspired by the documentary FED UP that reveals the secrets behind the food industry in an effort to get people to eat healthier.
The group held Leadership Conference at Embassy Suites in Charleston from Tuesday to Wednesday.
Students made presentations about food items, how many calories or sugars it has and how each item compares to other sugary food items.
“No one knows how much sugar is actually in this and what it’s actually doing to our bodies, so getting the word around let’s everybody know,” said Holyn Jeffrey, junior student at George Washington High School in Charleston.
Her mother, Dr. Jamie Jeffrey, is the director of KEYS 4 HealthyKids, a non-profit organization focused on reducing rates of childhood obesity. KEYS 4 HealthyKids and Healthy Kids Inc. sponsored the conference.
“The tag line that the teens are using is ‘stop buying food lies’ and they are really wanting real change and real food,” she told MetroNews.
“They’re learning that it’s not just personal choice,” Jeffrey said of several TV ads that manipulate kids to beg their parents into buying unhealthy foods. “They’re inundated by marketing and they’re learning how to spread that counter marketing message out to make better choices.”
Elizabeth Wirtz, a GW junior, said seeing those TV commercials made her want to join the FEDUP movement.
“I’ve been into healthy eating since I was little, but I never really realized how they were like targeting the youth. I knew it was bad, but I didn’t realize how bad it was, like they target toddlers and that made me really mad and made me want to join,” Wirtz said.
Wirtz’s group focused on sugary drinks that contain as much sugar as several Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
“I hope they’ll (students) stop drinking Gatorade and sodas. I think a lot of kids have already started drinking a lot more water because of the water fountains that we got,” she said.
Dr. Jeffrey, who works as a pediatrician in Charleston, said she has seen obesity rates decline in children ages 2-5. She said 6-11 year olds are holding steady, but teenage obesity rates are on the rise.