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Fighting Childhood Obesity is a Community Effort in Treasure Coast

Though the nationwide trend toward obesity has leveled off, Florida still ranks higher than most states. In fact, according to the National Institutes of Health, 1 in 5 Florida children are overweight.

Community leaders in Indian Rivers and Martin counties want to change this. Partnering with We Can!, a program that strives to help families and communities work to maintain a healthy weight, health officials hope to reverse Florida's trend toward obesity.

We Can! or "Ways to Enhance Children's Activity & Nutrition" helps communities across the country change the lives of their citizens. The program offers many strategies designed to energize families, getting them active and teaching them the ABC's of proper nutrition.

Donna Goodman, Martin County Healthy Communities Healthy People coordinator, says that, "What we are really trying to do is build a healthy lifestyle, trying to change our environment. It's really about small steps."

One such step is motivating families to become more active. The newest guidelines set by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services states that children should be active at least 60 minutes a day, yet few come close to meeting this goal.

In Martin County, 37% of all elementary students are overweight. To help this number drop, the Florida Cooperative Extension service is bringing quality education to the county's at risk families. Starting with teen moms and elementary schools, the team will give the students and mothers the tools to make better food and exercise choices.

The root problem of obesity is not obesity itself," said Terry Huang, director of obesity research at the National Institute of Child Health and Development. "The root problem is everything that's happening around us."

Childhood obesity will be a problem as long as busy parents easily can grab a prepared meal marketed right to them instead of cooking a family dinner, as long as children spend their free time on the computer instead of exploring a park, as long as our communities are built to encourage driving instead of walking, Huang said.

Treasure Coast community activists, partnered with We Can!, are working to change people's attitudes about healthy food choices and exercise. Working together, these groups have a much better chance of reaching children and their families, creating healthy habits for life.

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