NORMAL - Children and teenagers who aren't physically active and don't eat healthy foods are more likely than fit kids to grow up to be overweight adults with low self-esteem and a greater risk of disease and disability. | Photo gallery | Fit kids page

Inactivity and poor eating habits by some children has led to more kids being overweight and obese than their parents' generation. The problem is nationwide.

The good news is the trend is reversible. The time to take action is now, before the risks for heart disease, stroke, diabetes and osteoarthritis increase for the current generation of children.

"This is a huge problem," said Bob Keller, director of the McLean County Health Department. "And it will be a bigger problem when the children are adults in 10 years. But it can be prevented. We're talking about common sense approaches."

The approaches involve children and their families, said Keller and other Central Illinois health experts.

That is the goal of the Pantagraph's Fit Kids, a nearly year-long project dedicated to identifying and highlighting common sense approaches to preventing childhood obesity and developing healthier lifestyles for kids and their parents.

About one in three Americans is overweight and many of them are obese, prompting the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Preven-tion to declare obesity an epidemic. About 19 percent of children are overweight, a nearly three-fold jump since 1980.

Overweight and obesity ranges are determined by using weight and height to calculate a number called a body mass index (BMI), according to CDC. For children and teens, the BMI number is plotted on a chart that also considers the child's age and sex. That's why there is no one weight number that says a child is overweight or obese.

While numbers for local children are incomplete, Illi-nois State University professor of kinesiology and recreation Dale Brown thinks local num-bers mirror the national data.

According to the Behavioral Risk Factor Survey of McLean County adults released in November, 35 percent of county residents are overweight and 21 percent are obese. While there is no data for children and teenagers, Keller, whose department conducted the survey, thinks those percent-ages would be similar.

Concerns about the long-term risk of being an over-weight kid were quantified earlier this month.

A New England Journal of Medicine study released on Dec. 6 concluded that higher body mass index during child-hood is associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease in adulthood.

Heart disease, diabetes, sleep apnea, eating disorders, depression, anxiety, poor self esteem and social isolation are among complications of childhood obesity, the study concluded.

Kids are aware of the prob-lem.

Jacob Belmar, 10, a fifth grader at Bloomington's Pepper Ridge Elementary School, said, "I think kids need to be more active and eat the right kinds of food instead of candies all the time. There are a lot of reasons why. You could have a heart attack. You could get a clot."

As adults, chronic illnesses or injuries resulting from obesity can mean more sick time, impacting people who must fill in, and an increase in costly tests and procedures to address their illnesses and injuries. That would increase health care costs and insurance for everyone, Keller and Brown said.

But help is on the way. Revamped physical education classes - such as those advocated by Brown and taught by veteran physical education teachers like Terri McCullick at Pepper Ridge - appear to making inroads. But even Brown admits the success of the program won't be known until today's youths reach adulthood.

Meanwhile, nutrition is a greater focus in school lunches - milk is being pushed and soda is being pushed out.

But schools can't fight the battle alone.

"It's put on our shoulders to take care of the problem, but we have a small part of it," McCullick said. "We can edu-cate the child but we're not in their environment that they go home to. Everybody needs to be involved for this to work. Parents, doctors, everybody that a child is exposed to could play a part."

Too much time indoors

Reasons for increasing obesity among children are numerous. As concerns over safety have increased, fewer children walk or ride their bikes to and from school, and fewer children spend time playing outside.

But part of the blame lies with our increasing prosperity that allows more parents to drive their kids to school and buy them things to entertain them at home.

"Kids can exercise their thumbs pretty well," McCullick said. "They sit a lot at the computer, with their Xbox and Play Station to entertain them, instead of them having to find something to entertain themselves. Instead of playing with the neighborhood kids, they want something already planned."

"When we were kids, we couldn't wait to get outside," added Keller, who, at 60, continues to run and play softball. "We didn't have air conditioning and all we had was a black and white television with three channels.

"We rode our bikes everywhere - to the swimming pool, to pickup baseball games. We'd play night wiffleball. So many things are organized and some kids don't do an activity if their parents don't have time (to take them)."

Keller acknowledged safety concerns have increased. But cell phones make it easy for kids to keep in touch with parents, he said. And joining your child in an outdoor activity is a good way for parents and children to get exercise together safely, he said.

"Do more family activities so the kids have role models," McCullick said.

A key to exercise is making it fun.

"A kid is not going to say, 'Hey, it's 4:30, it's time to work out.' " Keller said. All it takes is going outside with your kid and a ball, a jump rope, a Frisbee, a Hula-Hoop, a bike, in-line skates - whatever would encourage them to move.

When there's enough snow, building a snowman or snow fort and shoveling snow are great physical activities, Keller and McCullick said. Sledding at Highland Park or Jersey Hill is great exercise because of all the walks back up the hill.

If you can afford membership to a local fitness club, ask whether clubs in your area have family membership and exercise with your child.

"We've done a good job of engineering activity out of daily life," Brown said. Everything from e-mail to riding lawn mowers to escala-tors mean that adults and kids have to put less physical activity into their daily lives. So, take the stairs instead of the elevator once in awhile.

"People like gimmicks but it's just truly a matter of eating less and moving more," Brown said.

Dinner time

Busy, two-income households mean traditional family dinners are limited in many homes, but it's important because it's when kids can learn about balanced meals and portion sizes, McCullick said.

Limited time and increased affluence also mean more families are eating out or eating on the run - that means more quick convenience foods that aren't healthy.

But Keller said healthy meals don't have to take a lot of preparation. Some vegetables in supermarket produce aisles, for example, already are cut and just need to be washed. Even fast food restaurants have healthy choices.

"Part of the solution will be relearning portion sizes," Keller said. "Our culture is, 'Bigger is better.' Well, you're really not getting your money's worth because you'll be paying for it on the other end."

Involving children in planning and preparing meals increases the odds they will eat the food, and offers opportunity for conversation and learning about nutrition, McCullick said.

"The approach is not to get everybody to be slim, thin, models," Brown said. "Each person has their own genetics that dictate their body shape. It's not the fatness of the individual that we're looking at. It's the fitness of the individual."

By the numbers

33 percent: Of Americans are overweight.

19 percent: Of American children are overweight, a three-fold jump since 1980.

35 percent: Of McLean County adults are overweight.

20.7 percent: Of McLean County adults are obese. The percentage of obese children is unknown but is believed to be similar.

SOURCES: New England Journal of Medicine, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Behavioral Risk Factor Survey of McLean County.