Fight Child Obesity with Education

With the growing problems of childhood obesity, educators throughout the nation can do their part in solving this problem by helping children understand why eating the right foods is important. PBS LearningMedia offers a variety of resources on nutrition including a video from Idaho PTV about the absorption of protein, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins, minerals, and water. The video asks students, “What does your body need?” and explains why food like sugars don’t give the nutrients needed. Another PBS resource covers the role of Genetics in Obesity. Some people lack a chemical in their brains that doesn’t tell them when they have eaten enough.  These people are always hungry and always eating, and therefore, gain too much weight. However, people who do not have this problem can also become obese if they eat foods, such as fast foods, that are too high in unhealthy fats and sugars. PBS Learning Media also includes close to 500 resources related to health and physical education. You can search these by media type such as audio, document, images, interactive, and video.