Couch Potato Lifestyle More Serious Problem For Kids Than Drug Abuse, Say American Adults

If you ask American adults about the most serious problem with kid health today, they most frequently complain about kids who never get off the couch. The next most frequent problem cited is that kids are gaining too much weight.

According to the University of Michigan’s National Poll of Children’s Health, adults now recognize lack of exercise as the most important concern for children, followed closely by childhood obesity. Smoking and tobacco use trailed in third place. Drug abuse came in only fourth.

The top child-health concerns are:

1.  Lack of exercise

2. Childhood obesity

3. Smoking and tobacco use

4. Drug abuse

5. Bullying

6. Stress

7. Alcohol abuse

8. Teen pregnancy

9. Internet safety

10. Child abuse and neglect

“Childhood obesity remains a top concern, and adults know it is certainly linked to lack of exercise,” says Matthew M. Davis M.D., M.A.P.P., director of the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health.