WANT EVEN MORE HEALTHY IDEAS FROM SHAPE YOUR FUTURE?
Tips to help build healthy habits for brighter futures
OKLAHOMA CITY – September 3, 2015 –To help bring awareness to National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month this September, Shape Your Future is providing tips and resources to help Oklahoma children live healthier lives.
In Oklahoma, 27 percent of youth are obese or overweight. Obese children are more likely to be obese as adults, which places them at increased risk for a variety of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, several types of cancer and osteoarthritis.
“Shape Your Future hopes to bring awareness to childhood obesity during September in order to encourage families to eat together and play together,” said Tracey Strader, executive director of the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET). “Simple steps like filling half your plate with fruits and veggies at every meal and getting 60 minutes of physical activity each day can help kids develop healthy habits that follow them for a lifetime.
Help kids fill half their plates with fruits and veggies at every meal and get 60 minutes of physical activity every day with these simple tips:
- Cook together. Let your kids pitch in in the kitchen. They can wash the produce, tear the lettuce for salads and sandwiches, or snap some green beans.
- Shop together. Bring your kids to the supermarket. It’s a super idea that will empower them to pick out new foods to try.
- Enroll your kids in afterschool activities like sports, dance or other physical activity programs.
- Make chores fun by seeing how fast you can clean the house. Turn on some music and sing and dance while you clean.
Shape Your Future is a statewide health initiative funded by the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) and the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) that encourages Oklahomans to eat better, move more and be tobacco free.
For more information about National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month and for healthy tips and resources, visit Shape Your Future OK. Connect with Shape Your Future on Facebook or Twitter (@ShapeFutureOK) to enter contests, share photos and videos and access other exciting tools.
For more information contact:
Elyse Maxwell
elysem@tset.ok.gov
(405) 568-8568
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Shape Your Future encourages Oklahomans to eat better, move more and be tobacco free to improve community health. By leading healthy lifestyles, Oklahomans can decrease the number of citizens who fall victim to death and disease while increasing community health, physical activity and quality of life. For more information, go to ShapeYourFutureOK.com.
The Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) serves as a partner and bridge builder for organizations working towards shaping a healthier future for all Oklahomans. TSET provides leadership at the intersections of health by working with statewide grantees and cultivating innovative and life-changing research, and by working across public and private sectors to develop, support, implement and evaluate creative strategies to take advantage of emerging opportunities to improve the public’s health. TSET – Better Lives Through Better Health. To learn more go to: www.tset.ok.gov.