Teaming Up to Fight Childhood Obesity

The Baton Rouge Chapter and La Capitale Chapter of The Links Inc. has teamed up with Mayor Kip Holden's Healthy BR Initiative in an effort to focus attention on solving the problem of childhood obesity.

The partnership will focus on building more ties with local schools to educate children and their parents on the importance of nutrition and physical activity. 

Anti-obesity plan touted - Initiative pairs group with BR
By GREG GARLAND
Published in The Advocate, Nov 2, 2010 - Page: 3B

Mayor-President Kip Holden announced a partnership with a women’s service organization Monday to fight childhood obesity.

Holden said a “Healthy BR Initiative” he launched in 2009 is partnering with the Baton Rouge and La Capitale Chapters of The Links Inc. to focus attention on solving the problem.

The partnership, among other things, will focus on building more ties with local schools to educate children and their parents on the importance of nutrition and physical activity, he said.

Holden was among a group of mayors who met with first lady Michelle Obama in January to discuss her initiative to stop the surging rates of childhood obesity in America.

He said the problem is particularly acute in Louisiana, where 47 percent of children are considered overweight and at risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, heart failure and other diseases later on in life.

The mayor’s wife, Lois, a member of the La Capitale Chapter of The Links Inc., joined him in announcing the partnership at a news conference at the Old State Capitol.

“Our shared vision is to stop childhood obesity within a generation,” Kip Holden said.

The Links Inc. is a service organization of volunteers that is focused on strengthening communities and improving the quality of life for African-American families, according to a news release issued by the mayor’s office.

This summer, Baton Rouge was one of four cities chosen by the National League of Cities to receive support through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to combat childhood obesity.

Holden is a past chairman of the League’s Institute on Youth, Education and Families. He held a two-day League summit in Baton Rouge on the subject of childhood obesity in 2007.