This is what a 12-year-old boy told researchers conducting new qualitative research for the IFIC Foundation's ACTIVATE/Kidnetic.com childhood obesity prevention initiative in January 2005. The research, a follow-up to a similar survey conducted in 2000, was designed to find out how kids' (age 9 to 12) and parents' attitudes and feelings about food, physical activity, and health had changed over this period. Overall, there is a marked increase in awareness among both kids and parents of the growing prevalence of obesity, as well as the associated health risks. For both groups, there was a much better understanding of the important role physical activity plays in promoting healthy weight. Similarly, both groups can now readily list the types of behaviors required to live a healthful lifestyle. There does not appear, however, to be a similar increase in reported behavior change. Kids and parents express the feeling that it is very difficult to change current behaviors and that they would welcome as much help as they can get. Kids want involvement and support from their parents as role models in making healthful lifestyle choices. Educational resources that deliver helpful information in a way that is relevant to kids and that encourage the entire family to approach healthful lifestyles together will play an important role in preventing childhood obesity.
