Obesity and Your Environment

The major "environmental" contributors are:

1. Eating behavior -- consuming too many excess calories and unhealthy foods;
2. Little or no exercise -- choosing television, computers, and the telephone instead of active play; and
3. Our "built" environment -- the fact that we now typically ride in cars instead of walking, take elevators instead of the stairs, etc.

• Eat lots of fruits and veggies! Tastes change as you grow older, so you might find you like healthy foods that you didn't like the first time you tried them.
• Eat fast foods less often. When you do visit a fast food restaurant, try some of the many new healthy choices on the menu.
• Do NOT skip any meals and be sure to eat a good breakfast every day. Skipping breakfast and other meals can cause you to eat more later or to crave foods that are too high in fat and calories.
• DO skip the soft drinks and high fat or high calorie snack foods like chips, cookies, and candy. Choose healthy drink and snack foods instead, such as:
  • Milk! Milk matters! It is very important for strong bones and healthy teeth;
  • Water (especially when exercising!);
  • 100% fruit juice is good, but to be careful of juices that are not 100% natural juice;
  • Fresh fruit or fruit canned in juice or light syrup, such as mandarin oranges, peaches, or pineapples;
  • Small amounts of dried fruits such as raisins, apple rings, or apricots (but chew carefully - these could be choking hazards!);
  • Fresh vegetables such as baby carrots, cucumber, zucchini, or tomatoes cut and served with low-fat salad dressing for dipping;
  • Reduced fat cheese served with whole-wheat crackers; low-fat yogurt with fruit;
  • A bagel or whole wheat toast spread with a small amount of peanut butter;
  • Graham crackers, animal crackers, or low-fat vanilla wafers;
  • A tortilla spread with low-fat refried beans.

• GET MOVING -- EXERCISE DAILY!
  You need a total of about 60 minutes of physical activity a day, but the good news is that this does NOT have to be done all at one time. Short five or ten minute spurts of fun physical activities throughout the day are just as good for you. Here are some things you might enjoy:
  • Power walking, jogging, or running
  • Riding a bike
  • Skating
  • Hiking
  • Bouncing, throwing, and catching a ball
  • Shooting hoops
  • Climbing on a jungle-gym, hills, or stairs
  • Swinging on a swing set
  • Swimming or just playing in a pool (only with supervision of course!)
  • Jumping rope
  • Playing hopscotch, tag, kick-the-can, hide and go seek, etc.
  • Dancing or playing music games, like the Hokey Pokey, Bunny Hop, Ring Around the Rosies, Skip to My Loo, Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, or The Walking Song
  • Team sports, like soccer, basketball, hockey, volleyball, and softball or baseball
  • Choosing the stairs instead of escalators or elevators
  • Taking physical education (PE) classes at school, or lessons such as swimming, tennis, or gymnastics
  • Walking to school, the store, friends' houses, or other places in the neighborhood (if it is safe to do so and with your parents' permission)

The NIEHS Fitness Fighters!

NIEHS also plans to help you in this effort. We will be developing a children's television program similar to "Sesame Street" that we call "The Fitness Fighters." It will give you lots of ideas for staying fit and healthy. So stay tuned as this important project comes to a television near you. But remember - for the most part you should turn off that television and get moving instead!