NORMAL -- If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes an entire county to get him to lose weight.

That was the idea behind the first community summit on overweight and obese children Thursday at Illinois State University's Alumni Center.

"This is where the answers come," Jeff Sunderlin, a 35-year veteran of the obesity fight, told summit participants before they broke into work groups.

Sunderlin, of Springfield, is program manager for the YMCA of the USA's Activate America-Healthier Communities Initiative. Community collaborations are the way to have sustainable programs to get kids and parents to be more physically active and lose weight.

But Sunderlin and summit participants agreed there is no one solution to the problem of obesity.

"It took 50 years for this mess to occur," he said. "We will not get out of it overnight."

Fifty-five people who fight obesity in Bloomington-Normal schools, child care centers, hospitals, at ISU, the McLean County Health Department and other agencies compared notes on problems of obesity, programs to fight obesity and whether they may be expanded communitywide.

A task force will take the information to recommend a program or programs that may be implemented communitywide next year, said summit co-Chairwomen Marilyn Morrow of Illinois State University and Jackie Lanier of the county health department.

Statewide, about 62 percent of adults and 30 percent of children are overweight or obese, Sunderlin said. Health complications include diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and mental disorders, said Sunderlin and Marvis Custer and Kim McClintic of OSF St. Joseph Medical Center.

Solutions include communities making it easier for families to walk, bike and play safely outside; restaurants providing more nutritional information; and families determining what physical activities they enjoy doing together. Schools, employers and churches should be involved, Sunderlin said.