Keeping Kids Healthy
What do kids see when they sit down to watch TV? Lots of ads for junk food. According to researchers at the University of Illinois, commercials for candy, sweets, and soft drinks make up 44 percent of the commercials aired during the TV programs that 6 to 11 year olds watch most, and fast food commercials make up 34 percent.

This has a big impact. Medical experts believe that these ads -- and the use of popular media characters to peddle foods high in fat, sugar, and salt -- contribute to the growing childhood obesity rate in this country, which has tripled since the 1970s. Obesity can expose kids to problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, low self-esteem, and Type II diabetes.

At Common Sense Media, we consider the media\'s influence on kids to be a critical public health issue. That\'s why we\'re connecting the dots between the media\'s messages and what our kids put in their bodies.

We\'re excited to be working on this issue with The California Endowment, which has launched a $26 million, four-year initiative, Healthy Eating, Active Communities (HEAC). HEAC aims to reduce the high rate of obesity and diabetes in low-income and minority communities.

Be on the lookout for monthly articles -- in our newsletter and on our site -- highlighting media\'s influence over kids\' health and body image. We’ll also provide tips, tools, and media literacy activities that you can use to talk to your kids about advertising, and help them become more media savvy.

We’ll also break down the latest research on this subject in the Research and Reports section of our site. And we’ll let you know when there are opportunities for you to take action in your community. As always, we invite you to share your questions, opinions, and personal stories with us. Together, we can help our kids understand how media impacts their decisions, and help them stay healthy.

About HEAC

HEAC is designed to demonstrate that collaborative approaches involving the public and private sectors, and a focus on changing social and physical environments that influence behavior and choices, can improve the nutrition and physical activity of school-age children. Below, Dr. George Flores, Senior Program Officer of The California Endowment, explains more about the program.

HEAC is designed to demonstrate that collaborative approaches involving the public and private sectors, and a focus on changing social and physical environments that influence behavior and choices, can improve the nutrition and physical activity of school-age children.

HEAC’s local and statewide activities seek to create momentum to change social norms toward healthy eating and physical activity, much in the way that social norms were changed about tobacco use.

• Local Activities: HEAC demonstration projects in Chula Vista, Santa Ana, Baldwin Park, South Los Angeles, Oakland, and Anderson (Shasta County) partners community organizations, schools, and local public health departments to improve food choices at schools and after-school programs, attract grocery stores and farmers’ markets, develop policies to assure safe places for outdoor activities, eliminate marketing of unhealthy foods to children, and increase opportunities to make healthy food choices and to participate in physical activities.

The Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program, centered in Fresno, Madera, Merced, Tulare, Kings, and Kern counties, partners community organizations with local public health departments to plan, organize and implement obesity prevention that is tailored to the unique circumstances in the Central San Joaquin Valley.

• Statewide Activities: Developing and sharing effective new strategies, building networks for learning and policy advocacy, promoting guidelines for healthier marketing and advertising to children, and expanding health coverage to include obesity and diabetes prevention services constitute, are just some of the statewide activities underway. In addition, the Endowment sponsored the Governor’s Summit on Health, Nutrition and Obesity, a milestone effort that resulted in new legislation to improve nutrition in schools, commitments by private industry to address obesity prevention, and a framework for collaboration between the food, physical activity, marketing and media industries, and obesity prevention advocates.

Programs that focus on improving environments for nutrition and physical activity in populations/places impacted by health disparities may apply for funding to The California Endowment. Go to http://www.calendow.org for more details.