From Your Health Journal…..”A really good article from the Fiscal Times written by Maureen Mackey entitled Cory Booker on Childhood Obesity: Fix It Now. This article was particularly interesting to me personally as Mayor Cory Booker of Newark is from my home state of New Jersey. Childhood obesity is on the rise, and obesity related illness in children is a major issue – including heart disease, asthma, weak joints, cancer, and type 2 diabetes. Change is needed, and people like Mayor Booker are making a difference in helping children lead healthy lifestyles. Please visit The Fiscal Times web site (link provided below) to read the complete article.”

From the article…..

Amid continuing worries that rising obesity rates could push health care costs into the stratosphere, Mayor Cory Booker of Newark, N.J., and others are promoting healthier eating and exercise in cities across America – with boosts from U.S. businesses as well as First Lady Michelle Obama, who has made healthy eating a core issue.

Partnership for a Healthier America, a nonprofit that solicits pledges from private companies and other groups to combat obesity, said Thursday more than 1,700 cities promoted exercise last year among 3 million kids. One in three American youngsters is obese right now, while many more are overweight.

The group, which held its annual conference this week, said it wants to help 10 million Americans have better access to healthier foods: It claims that 23.5 million people, including 6.5 million children, do not have the ability to buy fresh produce or cannot afford to buy it, Reuters reports. “Already, 141 grocery stores have been built or renovated in so-called ‘food deserts,’ often low-income urban neighborhoods without nearby grocery stores, helping more than a half-million people.”

Among the group’s business partners are Walmart and Darden Restaurants, while GE Healthcare said on Thursday it, too, would now join the partnership. Some restaurants have promised to alter their food offerings and to move away from such high fat, high-starch kid-friendly options as chicken fingers and French fries.

To read the complete article…..Click here