Childhood Obesity: Stopping the Epidemic
ATLANTA (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Obesity is taking an unprecedented toll on heath care and lives. A new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study says the annual medical cost of obesity may be as high $147 billion, and it's responsible or more than 112,000 deaths every year. And more and more kids are becoming overweight. Michelle Obama is trying to tackle the issue with her nationwide campaign "Let's Move," and now, some other smart women are also on a mission to help moms and kids fight obesity and get healthy.
"When I think of my brother Bernard, I think of what could have been," Pamela Green-Jackson, founder of Youth Becoming Healthy in Albany, Ga., recalled to Ivanhoe.
Bernard green died after a lifelong battle with obesity. Now his sister wants to keep thousands of kids from following the same path.
"Children have no business having high blood pressure and you know kidney problems and heart problems and diabetes," Green- Jackson said.
Her program Youth Becoming Healthy turns classrooms into free fitness centers where kids can learn healthier habits.
At 400 pounds, 14-year-old Malik Thomas has already had kidney failure and more. Now…
"I'm losing weight," Thomas said. "My pants are starting to fall down because I'm losing a lot of weight."
At the Guilford's, fighting obesity is a family thing. It started with a big wake up call.
"When my daughter and I went to the doctor for our physicals, the doctor told us that we were both considered clinically obese," Regina Guilford said. "That was kind of hard to hear and I knew we had to do something."
"The doctor told me I was too big," 7-year-old Lauren Guilford recalled.
Seventeen percent of kids today are obese, and those kids have an 80 percent chance of growing up to be obese adults. Consider this: the average girl needs between 1,600 and 2,000 calories a day. A McDonald's happy meal with a cheeseburger, fries and soda has almost half that amount. Burning an extra 50 calories every day can mean a 5 pound weight loss a year, which takes just 30 minutes of rollerblading, bicycling, baseball, basketball or other activity.
"It is really important to get children to develop those healthy habits early on, instead of waiting until there's a health issue," Cristina Caro, R.D., L.D., program coordinator for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, said.
With help from this dietician and this website created by Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, these kids are losing weight and living healthier. Less fast food, and more exercise. For this family, it's time.
"I don't want my kids to be unhealthy," Regina explained. "I don't want to be unhealthy any longer."
The website the Guilfords are using is free, and anyone can use it. It offers everything from customized nutrition plans for you and your kids to family fitness activities that are easy and fun. Visit it at http://www/myfamilyhealthspot.org. For Pamela Green Jackson's Youth Becoming Healthy program, go to http://www.ybhproject.org.
For more about childhood obesity, click here.
