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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Washington, DC) – The NAACP Health Department will unveil its Childhood Obesity Advocacy Manual in Washington, DC on Tuesday, September 27th, at the Thurgood Marshall Center (1816 12th Street NW) beginning at 10:00 am. NAACP leaders and health experts will convene and offer solutions to the disparately high childhood obesity rates in the African American community.
The Advocacy Manual – which offers tools to assist NAACP units and grassroots groups in promoting healthy behavior among Black families – identifies best practices in the fight against childhood obesity. It also serves as an advocacy agenda aimed at changing policies and programs at the local, state, and federal levels.
“The NAACP is committed to sounding the alarm on childhood obesity,” stated NAACP Director of Health Programs Shavon Arline. “Our manual is designed to provide our units with the tools they need to implement awareness, education, and advocacy opportunities in the Black community. With active units in every state throughout the United States, we believe we are well equipped to engage community and state leaders in this fight to save this and the next generation.”
In the United States, 31.8% of youth between two and nineteen years of age – or twenty-three million children – are obese or significantly overweight. African American children are more likely to be poor, obese, and live in unsafe communities where there are few opportunities for physical activity, higher exposures to harmful environmental factors, fewer supermarkets, and limited access to healthy food options. Today, 38% of Latino children and 34.9% of African-American children are overweight or obese, compared with 30.7% of White children.
“It is no secret that if not eradicated, childhood obesity will be one of the many causes of premature deaths and chronic disease for our children,” stated NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous. “The NAACP treasures the lives of our children and will stand with communities to fight against any systemic or environmental barriers that inhibit one’s opportunity to live a healthy life.”
For an embargoed copy of the report, please contact Ben Wrobel at [email protected]. Visit www.naacp.org for more information; a webpage devoted to the report will launch on September 27th.
Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities, conducting voter mobilization and monitoring equal opportunity in the public and private sectors.
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