America’s child obesity epidemic has been described by U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona as “the terror within.” Researchers nationwide predict that today’s kids may be the first generation in America in which parents outlive their children.
Without effective intervention, the future costs of childhood obesity “would be incalculable,” wrote leading child obesity researcher Dr. David Ludwig of Children’s Hospital in Boston in the New England Journal of Medicine (2007; 357: 2325).
Though the federal government currently lacks a comprehensive strategy for encouraging children to eat a healthful diet and engage in physical activity, action in the private sector is promising. Intensive heart-healthy, lifestyle-change programs, like the Pritikin Family Program held summers at the Pritikin Longevity Center, have documented superb results.
Since its inception in 2002, the Pritikin Family Program has empowered children worldwide with the skills they need to grow into lean, healthy adults. And they and their parents have learned, much to their delight, how fun and doable healthy living can be.