Health Department Asks New Yorkers if They’re “Pouring On the Pounds”
It’s hard to overeat without noticing it. By contrast, soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages can sneak up on you, adding hundreds of calories to your diet each day without ever filling you up. In a new effort to highlight the health impact of sweetened drinks, the Health Department is confronting New Yorkers with a bold question: Are you pouring on the pounds? The agency’s public-awareness campaign, which includes posters in the subway system and a Health Bulletin, will run for three months.
Read the press release
Read the Health Bulletin (PDF)
See the ads (PDF)
See the Spanish ads (PDF)
Tell us what you think! Cathy Nonas Blogs about Pouring on the Pounds
Over the past 20 years, obesity levels have doubled in the United States. In New York City, obesity is epidemic, and it begins early in life. More than half of adult New Yorkers are overweight (34%) or obese (22%), and nearly half of all elementary school children (43%) and Head Start children (42%) in New York City are overweight or obese.
Being overweight is not about looks. Many serious health problems are related to being overweight or obese, even during childhood, such as diabetes, heart disease, asthma, and depression. Making lifestyle changes to improve nutrition and increase physical activity is the best way to reach a healthy weight and to prevent these chronic health problems.
The Physical Activity & Nutrition Program’s work addresses the obesity epidemic in New York City, using evidence-based strategies to improve health outcomes and target communities most affected by health disparities.
THE PAN Program’s 5 Areas of Activity are:
