Prevent childhood obesity
June 6, 2005 02:27 PM EST | Children's Health | Email to Friend | Comments (0)
HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt today announced the launch of We Can!, Ways to Enhance Children’s Activity & Nutrition, a national education program from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to help prevent overweight and obesity among youth ages 8-13. We Can! provides resources and community-based programs for parents, caregivers, and youth that focus on behaviors to encourage healthy eating, increase physical activity, and reduce sedentary time.
"Overweight in children is clearly a public health crisis. Sixteen percent of children in the United States are carrying around excess weight – that’s 9 million children who are at increased risk for chronic illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, and asthma," Secretary Leavitt said today at the Environmental Solutions to Obesity in America’s Youth conference organized by the NIH’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
"We need to act now to prevent obesity in our children," said NIH Director Elias Zerhouni, M.D. "Obesity is a high priority of the NIH. This year, we will spend about $440 million on a wide range of research on this important problem."
[Read the full story via nih.gov...]
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