Childhood obesity is a major problem these days, and I’m not just saying that because someone cracked
the seesaw in my neighborhood playground. All you have to do is visit any school and you’re likely to spot dozens of kids who have to walk sideways to enter the gym. That’s the only way they can squeeze past the gym teacher’s belly. (If the gym teacher is overweight, you know the kids are in trouble.)
According to the latest statistics, one out of every three American children is overweight –- and the other two refuse to step on the scale. Many of these children are considered “obese,” as determined by a mathematical formula in which a child's body weight in kilograms is divided by the square of his or her height in meters, then multiplied by the average number of Kit Kats consumed in a day.
Obesity puts children at risk for a number of health problems, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and sleep disorders, as well as back and hip pain, which, in most cases, is not related to falling off seesaws.
Thankfully, President Obama recently launched a campaign to fight childhood obesity. The campaign, called “Let’s Move,” will try to educate parents about the importance of nutrition and exercise. Obama hopes more parents and children will say “Let’s move” to each other, at least half as often as they say “Let’s munch.”
It’s a good campaign and I wouldn’t be surprised if most families do find themselves saying “Let’s move,” especially as part of a longer sentence such as “Let’s move to the dining room and munch.”
Continue reading "Let's move -- to fight childhood obesity" »


last year too. And the year before. And the year before that. But this year, I'm really determined to do it. If you're trying to lose weight too, here are some tips on dieting that may help you:



