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The NC Task Force for Healthy Weight in Children and Youth created a comprehensive state plan, Moving Our Children Toward a Healthy: Weight Finding the Will and the Way. The Plan outlines 12 key recommendations for action to address childhood overweight.
The Healthy Weight Plan Outlines 12 Key Rrecomendations:
MissionThe mission of the NC Healthy Weight Initiative is to shape the eating and physical activity patterns of North Carolina children and youth in ways that lead to healthy weight and reduce the risk for chronic disease. The NC Task Force for Healthy Weight in Children and Youth created a comprehensive state plan, Moving Our Children Toward a Healthy Weight - Finding the Will and the Way , that provides recommendations for action to address childhood overweight. HistoryThe NC Healthy Weight Initiative was established in October 2000 as an impetus to prevent overweight in children. Originally funded by an obesity prevention grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Initiative was housed within the Women's and Children's Health Section of the Division of Public Health. The NC Task Force for Healthy Weight in Children and Youth created a comprehensive state plan, Moving Our Children Toward a Healthy Weight - Finding the Will and the Way, to reduce and prevent childhood overweight. The plan (see sidebar at right) was developed by a 100-member Task Force, chaired by John B. Longenecker, PhD, Director of the University of North Carolina Institute of Nutrition. NC Healthy Weight Initiative funding ended September 30, 2003. However, July 1, 2003, North Carolina received Capacity Funding for Nutrition and Physical Activity to Prevent Obesity and Other Chronic Diseases. This funding, managed by the Physical Activity & Nutrition (PAN) Branch, supports programming throughout the NC Division of Public Health. The NC Healthy Weight Initiative continues to grow with funding and support from the CDC Obesity and Chronic Disease Prevention grant and its many internal and external partners. Sherée Thaxton Vodicka, MA, RD, LDN coordinates Healthy Weight Communications in the PAN Branch. She can be reached at 919-715-1928 or at sheree.thaxton. General Facts on Childhood OverweightThe percentage of children who are overweight in the United States doubled during the past two decades and the percentage among adolescents tripled. Data from the 2004 North Carolina Nutrition and Physical Activity Surveillance System (NC-NPASS) show an even greater increase in our state; however, there are early signs that the rate of increase may be slowing. Still, childhood overweight remains an epidemic in North Carolina affecting:
Are certain groups at higher risk?It is clear from NC-NPASS data that substantial proportions of children and youth of all races, ethnicities, and both genders are overweight and at-risk for overweight, but there are some differences among groups in North Carolina:
In Young Black Girls, Safety Concerns, Lack of Recreation Options Contribute to Weight Problems: Read a recent article about an overweight issue African-American girls are facing. Why should we be concerned?Most of us recognize that obesity in adults is a serious risk to health and well being. However, most of us do not realize that:
While it is important to reduce the increased health risk placed on children by excessive weight, we must do so without jeopardizing their physical and emotional well being. Strategies to prevent or reduce overweight must be based on an understanding of and sensitivity to weight discrimination, social pressure for excessive slenderness and unsafe weight loss practices. Get More Data at the Eat Smart, Move More...NC site. |