U.S. First Lady Leads Childhood Obesity Fight
U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama has launched a campaign to call attention to a serious epidemic - childhood obesity (hat tip: reader Nanakwame). One out of three U.S. children is overweight or obese. Today, Mrs. Obama - known for promoting healthy eating - formalized her mission to put an end to childhood obesity within a generation with a national campaign called "Let's Move." "It wasn't that long ago that I was a working mom struggling to balance meetings and deadlines with soccer and ballet," she said. "There were some nights that everyone was just tired and hungry and we just went to the drive-thru because it was quick and cheap."
Now she wants to help parents nationwide. Her strategy: (1) helping consumers make nutritious choices by working with food companies to place nutrition information like calorie counts on the front of packaging; (2) healthier school meals, with fewer fats and more produce; (3) finding ways at school and home to help kids exercise at least 60 minutes a day; and (4) improving access to healthy and affordable food in underserved areas through tax credits and incentives.
Three Easy Steps To Cut Childhood Obesity
Researchers at Ohio State University have found three steps that, if done together, can dramatically reduce the risk of childhood obesity: sitting down to dinner on a regular basis, limiting TV time and getting plenty of sleep. Children in the routine of eating dinner with their families more than five times a week, got at least 10 1/2 hours of sleep a night and watched less than two hours of TV on weekdays slashed their risk of obesity by 40 percent. The study looked at more than 8,000 diverse preschoolers and is scheduled to be published in the March issue of the journal Pediatrics.
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2/9 News: Childhood Obesity
