Pooling Winston-Salem's considerable resources to tackle the serious problem of childhood obesity is an excellent idea. And though McDonald's and First Lady Michelle Obama have their own approaches, a hands-on, hometown approach could just produce better results.
For some time, Mayor Allen Joines has been organizing his task force on childhood obesity, which includes people from the city, the public-school system, the Gateway YMCA, the Winston-Salem chapter of The Links, Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Forsyth County, nutritionists and animators from the Out of Our Minds Animation Studio.
They're taking on a sensitive, complex issue. Some parents say that government efforts to fight obesity are intrusive and hurtful. The government sure can't mandate weight loss and certainly never should be able to. But it's only practical and right, in terms of human and real costs, that we try to curb the problem of childhood obesity.
And curbing it involves much more than flip remarks such as: "Those children need to lay off the chips and get outside and play like we did back in the day."
In an effort to reach children where they are, the local group is planning a website and an animated film to educate children about nutrition. The website would use games to educate children and the original animated film will have a positive message about nutrition. Others on the task force will work on nutrition education in the schools.
The problem is a serious one. Organizers of this effort said a survey in 2009 showed that 32 percent of Forsyth County children are overweight. An even higher percentage of children in the first, fourth, seventh and ninth grades was overweight. Youth obesity can lead to diabetes, heart problems, asthma, kidney and liver diseases, cancer, arthritis and other ailments. Weight gained while young can be difficult to shed.
"The current generation of children is the first generation that is not expected to live longer than their parents," Daniel Thorpe, vice president of the American Heart Association for the Triad, recently told the Journal's Cindy Hodnett.
The group has an $82,500 grant from the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust, $5,000 from Cook Medical and $1,000 from the Winston-Salem Rotary Foundation.
It's also important for parents to play an educated, informed role in determining the foods their children are exposed to. But not all children have responsible guidance, and parents can't be present in their children's lives 24 hours a day.
With all these resources at hand, our expectations can be high. We eagerly await the results of the task force's efforts.
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