WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Winston-Salem's mayor has started a campaign to fight childhood obesity that includes an interactive website with talking vegetables and a video of the mayor doing pushups.
The Winston-Salem Journal reported that Mayor Allen Joines started the Educational Childhood Obesity Prevention Program on Tuesday. The goal is to educate children ages 7 to 10 and their parents about the importance of good nutrition and getting enough exercise to prevent diseases such as diabetes.
Joines says he became interested in the problems that overweight children face after reading an article in the New England Journal of Medicine. The U.S. Conference of Mayors has also asked mayors to promote healthy eating and exercise among children.
The program cost about $90,000 and is funded with grants.
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