RWJF to fuel fight against childhood obesity with $500 million
Fight against childhood obesity is privileged to have another boost as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation plans to spend more than $500 million over the next five years. Through this massive investment, the foundation intends to help children and their families by introducing them to healthier foods, making such foods easily accessible. Moreover, the foundation aims at encouraging people, especially kids for participating in physical activities. This move by the foundation has highly been applauded by health experts. Interestingly, this is not for the first time when this particular foundation has come forward with such health enhancing campaign, but during the period, from 1991 to 2003 also the same foundation played a major role in bringing down tobacco use rate by spending about $446 million. As a result, the number of teenage and adult smokers has drooped down amazingly. Foundation’s new campaign against childhood obesity seems to have landed at the perfect time, since obesity in kids is growing by leaps and bounds, increasing their susceptibility to several life threatening health problems like diabetes, depression, heart disease, etc. As per the estimates, carved out by the foundation itself, nearly 25 million children 17 and under are obese or overweight, nearly a third of the 74 million in that age group. This shows that how grim the situation is becoming. Here it is worth mentioning that obesity among kids is causing threat not only to countries like America or UK but to the whole world, which becomes clear from the following studies: � Childhood obesity rises dramatically in the UK � Obesity rates rise among children � Obesity on the Rise in Delhi Students! � Kids in the Throes of Obesity After looking at the grim situation (childhood obesity), prevailing all round the world, it could be asserted that other industrial giants should also come forward to fuel this ongoing fight against childhood obesity because obesity is causing threat not only to kids’ health but to the world economy as well. Via: NY Times