The Alliance for a Healthier Generation is a not-for-profit organization that works to address one of the nation's leading public health threats: Childhood Obesity. They have made the goal to reduce the prevalence of childhood obesity by the year 2015 and to empower children to make healthy lifestyle choices. The organization was founded in 2005 by the American Heart Association and William J. Clinton Foundation. They work to positively affect and change the places that make the biggest difference in a child's life; such as schools, homes, doctor's offices, and in the community.
Today, according to The Alliance for a Healthier Generation, from the ages of 2-19, one in every three children are overweight or obese. Many believe that if the trends of obesity in children are to continue, the current generation will be the first in history to live shorter lives than their parents. Obesity can lead to a whole host of ailments for children; such as an increase risk of diabetes, more occurrences of asthma, and an increased risk of heart failure. The prevalence of obesity is said to occur because of a diminishing availability of healthy foods and physical activity; causing poor, unregulated nutrition and less physical education and recess for children. There have also been trends spotted between the rates of obesity along with different economic, racial, and ethnic groups. These people do not have access to good health care and often are genetically predisposed to get diseases like diabetes.
The Alliance for a Healthier Generation has four main programs they are implementing in the hopes of changing the fates of today's children. The first is a Healthcare Initiative that works to "reimburse physicians and registered dietitians for obesity prevention-related services" in order to encourage prevention of obesity in children. The second is called the Healthy Schools Program, which "supports administrators, teachers, parents, and students in implementing policies and programs that enable students to eat better and move more." The third program is called the Industry Initiative, which "facilitates voluntary agreements with the beverage, snack food and dairy industries, resulting in a significant reduction in the calories available to students in schools across the country." Finally, the last program is the Kids' Movement, a program collaborates with "media, celebrity and grassroots Champions" to encourage kids to join the movement; further encouraging kids to take charge of their health, get educated and get activated.
For more information on the Alliance for a Healthier Generation or if you are interesting in showing your support of the organization through donations, please visit The Alliance for a Healthier Generation's Official Website!
Exercise: OK so truth be told, I did not work out again today… I know. Shame on me. But in my defense, I am dog sitting this week and I didn't want to leave him. Plus I came home and got a TON done and checked off my list to do. Feels sooo good.
Eat: I love to eat broccoli and cauliflower. Best of all, they are extremely good for you! Broccoli contains tons of vitamin C, vitamin K, folate, fiber, vitamin A, vitamin B6, potassium, riboflavin, AND manganese. Cauliflower is full of vitamin C, vitamin K, folate, vitamin B6, fiber, and cancer-fighting indoles and isothiocyanates. Orange-hued cauliflower also has about 25 times more vitamin A than the white variety.
Relax: Today I caught up on The Event while working on my blog and getting some work done. It is a really great show and I'm glad to be catching back up again on it.
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