Gilroy Today 2010 06 Summer | Page 30

The Kid ’ s Corner
Helping Kids Fight Obesity Best Online Info Sources

The Kid ’ s Corner

Early years set the stage for all future development

Nutrition Education
Obesity threatens the healthy future of one-third of all American children . Obesity rates have tripled in the past 30 years .
We spend $ 150 billion every year to treat obesity related conditions , and that number is growing . For the first time in American history , our children ’ s life expectancy may be shorter than that of their parents .
At Go Kids , we incorporate nutrition education into daily lesson plans . We model good health practices by integrating them into our curriculum in purposeful ways : hand washing practices , books , pictures and hosting special guests that provide health and nutrition experiences . Our program provides healthy foods and a menu that reflects the cultural diversity of our community .
It is with pleasure that we provide this list of Best Online Info Sources to help our community find ways to help our children fight obesity .
Source : Nutrition . gov Sara Wilson , a registered dietitian and nutrition information specialist with the Food and Nutrition Information Center in Beltsville , Maryland selected these highly reliable sources as among the best online sources available .

Helping Kids Fight Obesity Best Online Info Sources

empowerME empowerme2b . org This kid-friendly venue helps youngsters motivate each other to be healthier by participating in polls , joining in conversations with peers about the challenges of — and the solution to — obesity and , perhaps best of all , sharing their own success stories . This site was created by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation , which , at its own web pages ( healthiergeneration . org ), offers practical tips — like how parents can talk to their kids about obesity .
Nourish Interactive nourishinteractive . com Vetted by nurses and registered dietitians , this energetic site teems with online games for kids , plus blogs , newsletters , health-hint calendars , lesson plans , and worksheets for parents and educators — all instantly accessible via a free log-in .
SmallStep Kids smallstep . gov / kids / flash / index . html Kids visiting this U . S . Department of Health and Human Services site can take small steps to better health with fun games , quizzes , and TV publicservice ads designed to entertain while encouraging healthy eating and physical activity .
Kidnetic . com kidnetic . com Find more games here , plus recipes and other content offered by the International Food Information Council to help kids move more and eat better .
Kidshealth . org kidshealth . org Health and medical experts share kidfocused information on all facets of health — including overweight and obesity — for this graphics-rich , easy to navigate Nemours Foundation site .
Weight Management & Obesity Resource List ( 2009 ) nal . usda . gov / fnic / weight . pdf Helpful collection of books , brochures , and articles on weight management and obesity , all carefully selected by the National Agricultural Library ’ s food and Nutrition Information Center .
Weight Management for Youth nutrition . gov / youthweight More than a dozen links to weightmanagement-oriented websites especially for kids , teens , and parents are offered here .
We Can ! nhibi . nih . gov / health / public / heart / obesity / wecan Online training and other aids featured at this National Institutes of Health site may help parents get their kids to make better food choices , be more active , and spend less time watching TV .
Healthy Youth Childhood Obesity cdc . gov / healthyyouth / obesity The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides links to sites with science-based strategies that schools and communities can use to tackle the obesity epidemic ; see also this site ’ s statistics on the prevalence of childhood obesity .
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center to Prevent Childhood Obesity reversechildhoodobesity . org Get inspired by this organization ’ s array of strategies to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic by the year 2015 . Use the “ Reversing the Epidemic ” tab to find the “ What Individuals and Families Can Do ” link , offering practical suggestion that might work on a community level .
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