Addressing the Childhood Obesity Epidemic
The NY Jets Speak Up for Health
Audio messages from star players
In the past ten years, obesity levels have doubled in the United States. More than half of adult New Yorkers are overweight or obese, and nearly half of all New York City elementary schoolchildren are not at a healthy weight. Obesity can begin very early in life. In fact, in New York City, 1 in 5 kindergarten children is obese.
Being overweight is not about looks. Many serious health problems are related to being overweight or obese, such as asthma, depression, diabetes and heart disease.
Read more about fitness and nutrition, including ideas about what parents, children, and families can do together to address
health-related fitness, in Helping Children Reach a Healthy
Weight: Proven Tips for Parents (pdf)
What Schools Are Doing
Do you want to learn more about what schools are doing to address fitness and physical activity for all children? Get information about physical education classes, before- and after-school activities for children, professional development for teachers, and links to other resources from the NYC Department of Education's Office of Fitness and Physical Education.
