September is National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month. In case you havenât heard, we are facing childhood obesity rates that are approaching epidemic levels. Currently, nearly 1 in 3 children in Virginia is overweight or obese. Obesity rates have more than tripled among children and adolescents over the past 30 years, making this generation of children the first to have shorter life expectancies than their parents; and, of course, obesity is linked to long-term health problems like heart disease, diabetes, joint problems, and other issues. And though the issue cuts across socio-economic status, research shows that there are direct correlations between growing up poor and being at higher risk of becoming obese. Greater Richmond Fit4Kids is a new nonprofit focused on the issue of preventing childhood obesity by making sure children have easy ways to be physically active and eat nutritious food. Mary Dunne Stewart, Executive Director of Greater Richmond Fit4Kids, will share details about their efforts to bring down childhood obesity levels in our community. Fore more information, visit http://www.grfit4kids.org/.
Elaine Summerfield, host Jay Westermann, sound engineer