Kids Moving & Thriving 2013 (September 21, 2013)

Please mark your calendars now for the second annual 5K run/walk to fight childhood obesity. 

Kids Moving and Thriving Initiative The Living Well Fitness Center, founded by Mt. Zion Baptist Church of Kalamazoo, is a full service, faith-based fitness center dedicated to improving the health of the community by providing opportunities for physical activity to under-served populations in Kalamazoo County.

As a part of this mission, the Living Well Fitness Center started The Kids Moving and Thriving Initiative to reduce childhood obesity.  The vision of Kids Moving and Thriving is that “every child will reach adulthood at a healthy weight.“

In order to realize this vision, the Living Well Fitness Center will:

• Provide supervised and interactive weekly access to year-round physical activity through camps, open gym, playgrounds and tournaments for children in K-5.
• Help children establish habits of healthy meals and snacks by providing nutritional snacks and instruct students on how to make better food choices.
• Provide opportunities that teach families how to create a home environment that encourages healthy eating, less “screen time” and more movement.

The Impact of Childhood Obesity

• 18% of children are obese
• In Michigan, 18.2% of our youth are overweight and 12.4% are obese, with similar results in Kalamazoo
• 70-80% of overweight children become obese adults
• Childhood obesity health expenses are estimated at $14 billion annually
• Childhood obesity leads to greater risks of diseases such as Type II Diabetes, high blood pressure and stroke
• Childhood obesity leads to low performance in school, increased school dropouts and general low self -esteem issues.