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Dear Editor,

September is childhood obesity awareness month. Childhood obesity has become an epidemic in the United States, tripling in number since the 1970s.

There are many factors that contribute to childhood obesity including larger portion sizes and the increased availability of high calorie, low nutrient foods such as candy and soda. Eighty percent of obese children become obese adults, increasing their risk of developing diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

Many of us may look at our own eating habits and try to make these necessary changes, but do we stop and think about what our children are eating? Childhood obesity awareness month is a wakeup call for our community to acknowledging this problem and become involved in the change. Meal by meal, day by day we are providing our children a longer, stronger, more heart healthy lives.

The American Heart Association is taking action against childhood obesity and provides a variety of resources at heart.org. As adults we need to take an active role in our children’s daily eating habits by providing health foods on our children’s plate each day and by being healthy eating role models.

Catherine Straatmann,

Volunteer, American Heart Association