Growing Bolder Community

One out of every five toddlers is overweight. What are the implications? Infant car seats must be redesigned to safely accommodate heavier infants and toddlers. School uniforms and student desks have to be supersized to accommodate heavier youngsters. A number of clothing retailers have introduced lines for oversized teen girls. Pediatricians are being trained to recognize the symptoms of...

Twenty years ago, medical experts began sounding the alarm about the rising incidence of adult obesity and the attendant medical problems, such as diabetes, stroke, cancer and heart disease. (Mom and Dad weighed too much.) Then the spotlight shifted downward as surprising numbers of teenagers packed on pounds. (Jennifer, their 13-year-old weighed too much.) Alarmed pediatricians then focused...

Pick a teenage girl you know. Almost any girl will do. Ask her to describe her body. Chances are she’ll begin by telling you what’s wrong with it. Maybe her waist is too thick, maybe her eyes are too far apart, or perhaps she feels her belly isn’t flat enough. Maybe she thinks her calves aren’t shapely or her behind is too big. Odds are good that she will not volunteer what...

The strong link between physical fitness and academic achievement, as reported by eMaxHealth, means that the way your family eats and exercises influences your child’s success at school. But the alarming number of overweight children—one in three, according to KidsHealth—tells us that raising a child with a healthy body weight is getting tougher. The start of a new school year is a great...

About a third of the young men and women recruited by the army are "too fat to fight." That alarming statistic, along with health concerns, has prompted the introduction of innovative programs to promote fitness among young adults. Five promising programs are detailed below:Online Health Community for Teens: Teens seeking to lose or gain weight, stop a bad habit, escape bullying or get support for...