Columnist Susan Snyder: Carmona sees dose of reality

Friday, Sept. 26, 2003 | 9:30 a.m.

Susan Snyder's column appears Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at snyder@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4082.

The man in a dazzling white uniform with military ribbons covering half his chest circulated among pupils eating breakfast in the Petersen Elementary School cafeteria.

"Is that George Washington?" one wide-eyed first grader asked.

Well, not quite. But U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona brought the hard truth when he visited the brand-new Las Vegas school Tuesday.

"We're facing unprecedented obesity in our children, and we need to break that cycle," Carmona said shortly before leading an assembly for Petersen's third and fourth graders.

"We see diabetes in children now. We never used to see Type II diabetes. So we need to teach them correct behavior when they're young," he said. "We're all the stewards of our children. Every adult who is interacting with children needs to take that responsibility."

Petersen was the seventh school Carmona has visited in the past 18 months as part of his goal to talk with schoolchildren in all 50 states.

The nation's top doctor was in Las Vegas to deliver a keynote speech at the international EMS Expo. He uses such junkets as opportunities to visit schools, U.S. Navy Lt. j.g. Robert Steiner, Carmona's assistant, said.

So the Las Vegas Valley was chosen by luck, not because its residents are more or less healthy than anyone else.

"Everybody needs improvement," Steiner said. "We don't visit people to reward them or chastise them. This has to be a whole community approach."

As Carmona's audience of 8- and 9-year-olds filed into the multipurpose room, he said a healthy diet balanced with physical activity is key. Obesity's effects cost the nation $117 billion annually.

"Children spend much more time on the PlayStation than the playground," he said. "We need to get them out on the playground and keep them active."

Mary Ann Ward, Petersen principal, said most of her 760 pupils participate in some daily physical activity just getting to school.

Although the school bicycle cage contained only half a dozen bikes, most of the children arriving for school Tuesday walked with their friends or parents. Very few arrived by car.

"We have no buses," Ward said. "This is a completely walking area."

Carmona told the children that as surgeon general he is "responsible for protecting the health of the United States and advancing the health of the United States."

"But to be the doctor for the whole, whole United States, I need your help," he added. "Everybody stand up and raise your right hand ... your other right."

Once they had the right rights in the air, the kids pledged "to eat a healthy diet, to exercise every day and to make sure my mom, my dad, my aunts, my uncles, my teachers, my friends and everybody I know stays healthy."

Carmona talked about eating fruit every day, avoiding cigarettes and answered some pretty big questions from the relatively small mouths.

"A lot of children have diabetes," one little girl asked. "What can we do about it?"

Eat healthy and be physically active every day, Carmona said. Other adults in the room looked at each other.

When did fourth graders start talking about diabetes?

Being the doctor of the whole, whole United States sure is a big job.

Even for George Washington.