Fast-food restaurant chains, overindulgent parents, lazy kids and schools all share the blame for the growing childhood obesity epidemic.

Obesity is not a nice term to use when talking to someone about their health, but nothing so far has got the message through to parents. In New Zealand we have a huge problem that's looking like an epidemic. So we need to nail it on the head.

The obesity epidemic is a global trend. Obesity leads to an increased risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, stroke and other health problems, and is closing in on tobacco use as the leading cause of preventable disease. This is a scary fact that us at GetKidsActive.com want to rid society of.

Parent education is very important and we are now setting up a parent education programme which we plan to take around the country very shortly to help parents with getting their kids physically active in an increasingly inactive world. For more information on our Parent Education Programme send your name and location to

A study two years ago by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, in the U.S.A, showed that 17 percent of children aged 12 to 18 and one in five aged 5 to 11 were overweight or obese.

In the United States only they have got about 9 million overweight kids. Since the 1970s, the numbers have skyrocketed, and we see no end in sight. This is scary stuff; our aim at GKA is to get New Zealand kids physically active to avoid seeing the scary signs of obesity which have been jumping up around the globe in the last few years.

There are many well-documented causes to obesity which are simple enough for parents to take care of without help from professionals, including too much time in front of the television, computer and video games as well as a sedentary lifestyle and a family appetite for fast-food.