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Healthy Memphis - "Spring into Shape"

 
 
 
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The prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well.
James 5:15
Childhood Obesity and Nutrition Fact Sheet

  • Obesity in kids is now epidemic in the United States, according to National Institutes of Health research. The number of children who are overweight has doubled in the last two decades.

  • Children in the United States today are less fit than they were a generation ago and are showing early signs of increased cardiovascular disease risks such as weight gain and cigarette smoking.

  • Inactive children, when compared with active children, weigh more and have higher blood pressure and lower levels of heart-protective high-density lipoproteins.

  • A fitness testing program sponsored by the Chrysler Fund Amateur Athletic Union shows that children are getting slower in endurance running and are getting weaker.

  • According to American Health Magazine, only 5 percent of children were considered overweight in the 1960s and 1970s. Now an estimated 25 percent are considered overweight.

  • Healthy lifestyle training should begin in childhood to promote improved cardiovascular health in adult life. The following good health practices should be promoted among children: regular physical activity, well-balanced meals and regular pediatric medical checkups.

  • As kids spend more time watching TV and playing computer and video games, their physical activity levels have decreased. Their body weights have also increased.

  • Almost half of children ages 8-16 watch three to five hours of television a day. Kids who watch the most hours of TV have the highest incidence of obesity.

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