Wednesday, July 11, 2012

BONNIE PFIESTER FIGHTS OBESITY


Kudos to Bonnie Pfiester.  Her comments in her column in today’s Vero Beach Press Journal mirror what I talk about everyday with parents, business leaders, and children throughout the United States and beyond.  Fighting obesity must happen on all fronts.  We cannot afford to be complacent in this fight.  

As a reader of this blog you know that my focus is childhood obesity- stopping it, reversing it, and preventing it. One in three kids in America is overweight or obese.  Two in three adults are overweight or obese.  If America’s children are going to have any kind of chance to get to a healthy weight as kids and avoid the early onset of obesity-related diseases seen primarily in older adults (like type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and joint disease), then America’s adults had better start confronting their own daily excuses as to why they don’t exercise and why they are still making lousy food choices.  

From a kid’s perspective, it’s a case of “monkey see, monkey do”.  I see it every day.  Kids are simply modelling the behavior they see in their parents, their teachers, their friends’ parents, etc. 

I  agree 150% with what Bonnie said in today’s article about the five ways people can fight the obesity epidemic.  This is what you can do:
  • Fight obesity in your home.
  • Fight obesity in your workplace.
  • Fight obesity in your child’s school.
  • Fight obesity in your church and local organizations.
  • Fight obesity in your close circles.

The really great thing is that Bonnie is doing more than just talking about fighting obesity.  She has drawn a line in the sand with an offer today that shows she is serious about fighting obesity.  She said that anyone who brings a copy of today’s Vero Beach Press Journal article into her Max Fitness Club (which she owns with husband, Steve) by August 1 will receive a free 30-day club membership.  

Bonnie, you are a wonderful role model for improving the health of America – and America’s children.   Thank you!!

Kids at a recent Growing Healthy Kids in the Kitchen event in Vero Beach.


Kids on the fitness trail at a recent Growing Healthy Kids event held in collaboration with Youth Guidance Mentoring & Activities Program.
Thank you,

Nancy Heinrich
Founder, Growing Healthy Kids, Inc.