Mentors model healthy living for overweight kids (press release)

Tuesday, June 21, 2005 by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...) Tags: health news, Natural News, nutrition

https://www.naturalnews.com/008694.html

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In a new program, the Big Brothers and Big Sisters Association is trying to encourage kids to get fit, since children who are obese are at greater risk of developing Type-2 diabetes and heart disease.

Carrie Markin, who designed the Mentors in Motion program as part of her master's thesis in nutrition, said the goal is to improve feelings of self-esteem and self-worth through physical activity.

Kids participating in the program stay active where they live, such as visiting the local swimming pool with their mentor.

Reaching out to obese kids in their own communities may work better than having them come to clinics, said Laurent Legault, with the weight clinic at Montreal Children's Hospital.

"This is something I think is a step in the right direction, because we're actually going to be intervening with the families," said Legault.

Vanessa Tardio, a Big Sister, tries to find activities she has in common with her Little Sister.

"We like to play frisbee," said Tardio. "We went to a park, we walked around for an hour and we didn't even realize, like, an hour went by. Just to get that into her life, that's really important for me."

Mentors in Motion has signed up 20 kids for the summer. In the fall, the program will branch out to schools.