Tag Archives: children

Family

Hawaii healthy for children

Hawaii’s children are among the nation’s healthiest, according to the most recent data published by the National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH). Areas where Hawaii’s children exceed the national level include having been breastfed, oral health, vigorous daily activity and positive social skills. More of Hawaii’s children are insured (96.2%), compared to Mainland children (90.9%), which may explain why they receive more preventative care.

Children in Hawaii fall slightly below national levels for days of school missed (5.7 in the las year, compared to 5.8 for Mainland children) and watch slightly more TV (55.9% watch TV one or more hours a day, versus 54.4%).

Still, children are highly valued in Hawaii’s culture, and it shows in these latest health data.

Culture

Not in Hawaii: Interracial couple denied married license

3 Comments

Today’s SF Chronicle reports the story of an interracial couple being denied a marriage license in Louisiana because a white justice of the peace says ‘it is his experience that most interracial marriages do not last long’. Clearly this man has never been to Hawaii.

The majority of people in the Aloha state self-describe as “mixed ancestry”, according to census records. The divorce rate is no higher than elsewhere, and is in fact a tad lower. (See related article on being fat and happy.)

The article goes on and Bardwell digs deeper:

‘I’m not a racist. I just don’t believe in mixing the races that way,’ Bardwell told the Associated Press on Thursday. ‘I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else.’ Bardwell said he asks everyone who calls about marriage if they are a mixed race couple. If they are, he does not marry them, he said.

Use his bathroom? Who is this guy? His reasoning:

‘There is a problem with both groups accepting a child from such a marriage,” Bardwell said. “I think those children suffer and I won’t help put them through it.’

Maybe Bardwell hasn’t heard the latest news about a child of mixed race parents becoming President. But then again, that child was born in Hawaii.

Health

F as in Fat in 2009: Hawaii ranks 5th lowest in nation for adult obesity

The Trust for America’s Health released its annual report of obesity and overweight rankings of US states. In F as in Fat: 2009, Hawaii fared well at 5th lowest in the nation for adult obesity at 21.8%. But the news is not so good for Hawaii’s children. Hawaii ranks 37th in nation for overweight kids, at 28.5%. Worryingly across the US, the percentage of obese and overweight children is at or above 30 percent in 30 states, according to the report. Adult obesity rates now exceed 25 percent in 31 states. Rates are highest among Baby Boomers, suggesting this trend may worsen with age.

Belly fat (or abdominal or central obesity) is the most dangerous kind of fat

The report cites three main reasons for the crisis: Continue reading F as in Fat in 2009: Hawaii ranks 5th lowest in nation for adult obesity →