Rising Levels of Obesity in North Carolina

 

In North Carolina, approximately 67% of adults and 30% of children ages 10 to 17 are overweight and obese. In direct response to such alarming statistics, Eat Smart Move More NC (ESMMNC) recently released its plan to address the rising levels of obesity in our state.

ESMMNC’s target objective is to reduce obesity in North Carolina by 0.5% per year from 2013 to 2020. A long-term supporter and partner of ESMMNC, the Alice Aycock Poe Center for Health Education (Poe Center) will help ESMMNC in meeting their target objectives through their mission-driven work: the creation and delivery of universal health education programming to North Carolina children, youth and their families.

In collaboration with ESMMNC’s leadership team, the Poe Center will help reverse the tide of childhood and adult obesity statewide by providing children (pre-K through 12th grade) and their parents and caregivers, with educational programs focused on positive nutrition, MyPlate and regular physical activity. Poe’s Health Educators welcome visitors to Poe’s Sunnybrook Road facility and travel far and wide to ensure that all North Carolinians have access to the information they NEED to make positive health and lifestyle choices.

Poe’s biggest lesson: obesity and other chronic diseases are preventable! Poe’s goal: to reach North Carolinians from preconception through adulthood to ensure that our age-appropriate, scientifically-based programs are reinforced at critical points throughout the lifespan. Good health is never a one-time lesson. Instead, we focus on the importance of ongoing learning to strengthen messages and increase the likelihood that our participants will develop as healthy as possible.

Our Health Educators work diligently to enhance current programs as well as offering new programs that are relevant to today’s society.  So follow us (FB/Twitter) as we lock arms with organizations like Eat Smart Move More NC to conquer this costly public health problem head on by acknowledging challenges while focusing on solutions!  To read more about this movement visit http://www.eatsmartmovemorenc.com and www.poehealth.org to learn more about the highlighted programs for Spring and Summer 2013.