America's Move to Raise a Healthier Generation of Kids

 
Childhood obesity or excess weight threatens the healthy future of one third of American children. We spend $150 billion every year to treat obesity-related conditions, and that number is growing.
Obesity rates tripled in the past 30 years, a trend that means, for the first time in our history, American children may face a shorter expected lifespan than their parents.
We need to get moving. Join First Lady Michelle Obama, community leaders, teachers, doctors, nurses, moms and dads in a nationwide campaign to tackle the challenge of childhood obesity.

National Wear Red Day this Friday, February 5, 2010

Lead the Way and Plan a Wear Red Day

National Wear Red Day is Friday, Feb. 5, 2010. But it takes just one person to start Wear Red Day on any day of the year. Let that person be you! Consider organizing a Wear Red Day at your workplace, with your faith-based organization, at your community center or even in your own home. Speak up. Inspire your friends, neighbors, coworkers and family members to show their support for the fight against heart disease!

DID YOU KNOW:

• Only 13% of women view heart disease as a health threat, even though it’s women's No. 1 killer.
• Cardiovascular disease (CVD) kills over 480,000 women a year, about one per minute.
• One in three adult females and males in the United States suffers from a form of CVD.
• CVD claims more lives than the next four most common causes of death combined.
• On average, an American dies of CVD every 35 seconds.
• Coronary heart disease is the No. 1 single killer of women over age 25.
• 64% of women who died suddenly of coronary heart disease had no previous symptoms.
• One in 2.6 female deaths are from CVD, compared with one in 30 from breast cancer.
• Heart disease rates in post-menopausal women are two to three times higher than in pre-menopausal women of the same age.
• Stroke is the #3 cause of death for American women, and is a leading cause of serious, long-term disability.
• Stroke kills more women than men. In 2003, females represented 61% of stroke deaths.

American Diabetes Association - Stop Diabetes: Share

American Diabetes Association - Stop Diabetes: Share

414,720

Between the day this movement started on October 29, 2009 and today, this is how many of our friends, family members and colleagues have been diagnosed with diabetes. That's one person every 20 seconds. Join the movement and Stop Diabetes now.

10 Reasons to Get Tested for CKD | The Kidney TRUST

10 Reasons to Get Tested for CKD The Kidney TRUST:

"Kidney disease is a growing public health problem affecting an estimated 31 million American adults. Recent studies show that 1 in 9 adult Americans has chronic kidney disease (CKD), but most don’t know it. The good news is that if CKD is caught early, it may be possible to slow it down or even stop it altogether.

In people with CKD, the kidneys are less able to perform vital functions that help maintain overall health, including filtering wastes and excess fluids from the blood. In time, CKD may lead to kidney failure, in which case dialysis (blood cleaning) or a kidney transplant is needed to support life."

How Obesity Harms A Child's Body (washingtonpost.com)

How Obesity Harms A Child's Body (washingtonpost.com): "How Obesity Harms A Child's Body"

For the first time in history, American children can have a shorter lifespan than their parents. The cause: Obesity

Obesity Threatens a Generation - washingtonpost.com

Obesity Threatens a Generation - washingtonpost.com: "An epidemic of obesity is compromising the lives of millions of American children, with burgeoning problems that reveal how much more vulnerable young bodies are to the toxic effects of fat. "

An Unexpected Lesson on Eating Well

My original thought was to go to Anacostia Park Pavilion to photograph rollerskaters. But because no one was rollerskating, I found myself talking to Nura Green of the Aban Institute. She's running a small summer program for teenagers and the day's lesson was on nutrition and how to prevent Type II Diabetes. The classroom is in an unlikely place - tucked behind a brown door within one wall of the skating pavilion. Inside, Green was teaching her students how to read nutrition labels.