Wayne Jacobs, chairman of the LeTourneau University kinesiology department, presented a 90-minute lecture to a group of students and educators about the perils of childhood obesity and the toll excess weight can have on society and the quality of life for children as they grow to adulthood.

Jacobs offered some steps that parents, community members and schools can take to help solve the problem:
Encourage healthy eating habits, reduce soft drinks and high-fat/high-calorie foods, serve a healthy breakfast every day, cut back on fast food and plan healthy meals, as well as drink plenty of water.

Jacobs also suggested that parents encourage daily physical activity for their children including participation in sports and recreational activities. Workout time should be family time, he said.

"Parents who exercise with their children do not have problems with their children being obese," Jacobs said.

He also suggested schools should be more exercise-friendly and provide at least 30 minutes of physical activity. Get Kids Active is now in the middle of promoting Physical Activity Days at schools, kindergartens, and play-centres nationwide. If you would like to find out more about this initiative please contact

"We have billboards about abstinence," he said. "Why can't we put up ones about healthy eating?"

Jacobs said children today are 30 percent heavier than they were 10 years ago and at least one of every five is overweight.

Overweight children have a greater chance of developing diabetes and other weight-related health problems, including heart disease, he said.

A child who is overweight at the age of 6 has a 50 percent chance of being an obese adult, he said. For teens, that percentage increases to at least a 70 percent chance, he said. Also, Jacobs said children who have one overweight parent have a 40 percent chance of being obese as adults, and children with two overweight parents have an 80 percent chance of growing up obese.

"We have to stop it at an early age," he said. It is our aim at GetKidsActive.com to try and do this, so help us spread the word by getting your family, friends, teachers, and schools to sign up to GKA to stay in tune with up coming events, news and competitions.