To say that Ariel Comeau’s life is dedicated to health and fitness would be an understatement. She is a senior at SMU and is majoring in applied physiology and sports management with a dance minor. Comeau is also a Group X instructor at the Dedman Center and has an internship at Equinox Gym.

One of her biggest interests in health and fitness is with obesity in America, especially among children.

“Way down the road from now I’m planning to open a fitness facility that will focus on all different kinds of group fitness classes,” Comeau said.

Comeau says her gym will have an after school program for children, and because of the childhood obesity epidemic, she may have a lot of customers.

Obesity in children has almost tripled since 1980.

Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention show that approximately 17 percent of children between the ages of two and 19, or 12.5 million, are either overweight or obese.

Between 1976-1980 and 2007-2008 the percentage of two to five year old children with obesity increased from 5 percent to 10.4 percent. Obesity increased in children ages 6 to 11 from 6.5 percent to 19.6 percent. And it increased in children ages 12 to 19 from 5 percent to 18.1 percent.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 32.2 percent of children in Texas were considered overweight or obese in 2007.

Nineteen other states had higher percentages; the highest was Mississippi with 44.4 percent. “It has been a slow increase over the years,” Dr. John Young, a pediatrician at Cooks Children Medical Center in Fort Worth, said.

Young says he has had to treat more and more kids with weight problems over the last several years.

He believes that because of the environment children are growing up in today, where it is acceptable to sit around all day playing video games, texting and watching TV, there is no longer an interest in running around outside or riding their bikes.

It is not only pediatricians who see the environment as a major factor in the obesity epidemic. Dallas Area Coalition to Prevent Childhood Obesity, the Centers for Disease Controm and Prevention and nutritionists have all said it is most likely the greatest factor.

Recently, elementary, middle and high schools have gotten rid of or cut back on recess and physical education class. Instead of walking to school, most children now ride a bus.

In 2005 the Community Council of Dallas and the Children’s Medical Center started a coalition to fight childhood obesity: the Dallas Area Coalition to Prevent Childhood Obesity.

Marilyn Self has worked at the community council for more than 25 years and says that this issue was bigger than any single member could work on by himself or herself, but that together they have started to make a difference.

“There’s a lot we can learn from each other, a lot of people have met other people in the coalition and they have gone on to do other joint agencies together,” Self said.

One company in the DFW metroplex that sense opportunity in the epidemic of childhood obesity is the Medi Weight Loss Clinic. The clinic is putting together a program called “Power Play” that will cater to 12 to 18- year- olds who are looking to lose weight.

“[Power Play] will teach children what kind of servings they need to have,” Jana Howell, the office manager of one of the Fort Worth Medi Weight Loss Clinics, said.

She believes that if children are aware of how to eat and what is healthy they will start making smarter choices.