National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month

September is being observed as National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, an observance designed to raise awareness of the serious threat obesity poses to the health of America’s children and to encourage action aimed at decreasing its prevalence in the United States.

According to recent studies, almost one third of American children (over 23 million) are overweight and half of these are considered to be obese.

Background information:

President's Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Childhood Obesity Facts

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Preventing Childhood Obesity: 6 Things Families Can Do

American College of Sports Medicine

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases; Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; and National Cancer Institute: We Can!