To attack the scourge of childhood obesity that is threatening the health and well-being of our youth will require all kinds of intervention and collaboration among organizations and professionals who work with our youth, market products to them, and serve them in varying capacities. Schools and parents must continue to work together to not only develop and implement workable plans for encouraging students to make better food choices but also to reward them properly when they do so. Community advocates and public health officials should continue their good work of getting food and beverage companies to stop selling targeted kinds of beverages and snacks in schools. School administrators must work harder to protect physical education as an important aspect of the school day and school budgets. Entertainment and media personalities can use their access and bully pulpits to help promote the healthy lifestyle choices that we hope our young people will integrate into their daily routines. Practically every family in America is being impacted in some way by childhood obesity – this problem is not confined to any particular age or class. It is our collective responsibility to do what we can, where we are, to help eliminate this epidemic across the younger generation.

School nutritionists and dieticians are in the unenviable position of having to work around forces at home and school that cause young people to make unhealthy eating choices which ultimately lead to bad habits. Students who are not served well-balanced meals at home are less likely to eat well-balanced meals away from home. Students who hang around peers who eat junk food all the time are likely to want the same during lunch break. If parents are able to teach or model healthy eating habits at home coupled with moderate doses of fun or snack choices, then schools can complement what’s being taught at home as they prepare nutritious and appealing meals during school hours. However, the biggest obstacle facing our youth at home and school is our ready-to-eat culture that is being propelled by the proliferation of junk foods, sodas, packaged goods, and processed meals. A stark reality for many families is that they rely more and more on pre-cooked, prepared, or microwaveable meals as they juggle the demands of home, work, and leisure. We need a major cultural shift in our home, work, and leisure priorities to successfully transform the lifestyle habits that have caused so much obesity among our youth.

The working partnerships among public health organizations, community advocates, and food and beverage companies are a strong signal that the adults in the room do understand the gravity of the epidemic. On a national scale, fast food restaurants are offering healthier and less fattening choices on their menus and are not feeding the temptation to overeat in their marketing campaigns, which can be viewed as baby steps toward completely eliminating foods that are truly calorific. Professional sports organizations are to be commended for their groundbreaking initiatives that encourage and reward youth for setting physical activity and dietary goals. The public relations, philanthropic, and community service efforts of professional athletes across sports is significant for helping young people understand how making the right exercise and dietary choices can lead to healthy and wholesome living. In the end, if we can make sure that our school systems maintain their financial commitment to physical education in their operating budgets, then the rest of us can partner with families to help our youth develop routines and habits that will help them to defeat the obesity scourge that threatens their fitness and well-being.