Tues., 1/31/12: The ABCs of Childhood Obesity

The ABCs of Childhood Obesity
This Thursday marks the two year anniversary of Michelle Obama's Let's Move campaign, a program designed to get kids to eat healthier and exercise more. The First Lady's efforts couldn't come at a better time: 17 percent of kids in the United States are now classified as obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We'll explore the reasons why kids have gotten heavier- from more screen time and less exercise, to genetic factors, advertising's effect and the easy availability of bad foods- how bad it's gotten, and what needs to change to reverse this public health predicament.

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GUESTS:
  Dr. David Katz, founding director of Yale University's Prevention Research Center, specialist in nutrition, weight management and chronic disease prevention, served as a consultant to the World Health Organization and the FDA, editor-in-chief of the medical journal, Childhood Obesity.
 Cindy McDermott, senior vice president of operations for the YMCA of Great Providence. She helped coordinate the YMCA's pilot program for overweight and obese children. The program offered gift cards to kids who ate healthy meals and exercised more.