With nearly 33% of children in America considered to be overweight or obese - a rate that has tripled in adolescents and more than doubled in younger children since 1980 - an Obama Administration task force recently established a goal of reducing the childhood obesity rate to just 5% by 2030, less than a generation away.
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According to C & R's Youth Beat, kids eat at a restaurant 2.5 times a month. In an average 30-day month, there are 150 meal occasions:
- 30 Breakfasts
- 30 Lunches
- 30 Dinners
- 60 Snacks (at twice a day)
If kids are only going to restaurants 2-3 times a month, they account for only
2 percent of all meal occasions.
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President Bill Clinton Honors 179 U.S.
Schools
The Alliance for a Healthier Generation, founded by the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation, today recognized 179 schools that have transformed their campuses into healthier places for students and staff.
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Here is a Green Bay Press-Gazette article written by Kelly McBride about the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines that call for an hour of daily activity for children and adolescents. This article is a part of the Green Bay Press-Gazette’s efforts to explore the components of childhood obesity one-by-one as part of the Greater Green Bay: Where Kids Count community initiative.
The article stresses that getting children moving is an integral part of fighting childhood obesity and that this must start at home. “Activity is a huge piece to this — why we’re seeing the numbers that we’re seeing with the epidemic in this country,” said Michelle Erdmann, team leader of wellness and performance for Bellin Health, adding that change “has to start at home, with strong, active families. That’s a huge piece of it.”
There’s no question that getting kids moving is an integral part of fighting the ongoing national battle against childhood obesity. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines call for an hour of daily activity for children and adolescents, but experts say many kids are falling woefully short of that goal.
Busy lives and TV and computer “screen time” are primary culprits as too many kids get too little exercise. School gym classes and other activities can help, but doctors and health officials say meaningful change needs to begin with parents.
er Green Bay: Where Kids Count community initiative.