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Get out and play!
It’s the easy way to get Alaska’s kids fit now and for the future Whether its indoors or outdoors, kids need about an hour of physical activity daily. Alaska
By Tim Ellis
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ust go play! That’s the message state health officials have been getting out to educators, parents and kids in an effort to keep youngsters trim and healthy. It’s important, especially in Alaska. Child health experts say more than a third of Alaska’s 3-year-olds are overweight or obese, and they say if kids don’t lose excess weight while young, it’ll be harder to shed those extra pounds. And that extra weight can cause serious health problems later in life. “We know that oftentimes overweight children can grow up to be overweight adults,” says Ann Potempa, a public health specialist with the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services’ Division of Public 36
ALASKA PULSE — February 2020
Department of Health and Social Services
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Health. That’s reflected in the division’s 2017 study on the problem, which shows that 2 out of every 3 Alaska adults are
overweight or obese. Potempa says health department experts have identified two strategies to stem the tide of obesity among chil-
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