Children's nutrition, family health to be focus of CLAS Acts presentation

Pediatric obesity is a tragic problem in our culture, but it’s not unavoidable. Families who want to learn more about simple changes that can help improve their health immensely are invited to attend “The Price is Too High: Balancing Children’s Nutrition,” a CLAS ACTS presentation sponsored by KU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Attendees at the April 19 event will be able to explore healthier choices and lifestyles by visiting multiple stations with hands-on activities. Some of those activities include identifying healthier choice in fast foods, learning to calculate target heart rate, comparing serving sizes and sampling healthier snack options from The Merc.

“The Price Is Too High” is organized by Ric Steele, a professor of applied behavioral science whose research centers on physical and mental health in children, adolescents and families.

Steele says the presentation is designed to equip families with tools that will help them maintain healthy balances of diet and exercise. The event will also introduce families to the energy balance equation, which explains the relationship between caloric intake and expenditure and weight gain or loss.

“Basically, if calories in is greater than calories out, then weight gain occurs,” Steele says. “If calories out is greater than calories in, then weight loss occurs.”

According to Steele, the most current estimates show that more than 30 percent of children in the United States are overweight. Although a changed physical appearance is the most recognizable effect, there are other issues that arise from being overweight.

“Other, less obvious conditions may result, including poorer school performance, mood and behavior problems, lower self-esteem and other somatic problems like fatigue,” Steele says.

“The Price is Too High” is free and open to the public from 2 to 4 p.m. April 19 in Spooner Hall. For more information, contact Jessica Beeson at eliasb@ku.edu or visit the CLAS Acts Web site.