LiveWell Colorado is a nonprofit organization committed to preventing and reducing obesity in Colorado by promoting healthy eating and living. Even if you aren’t a Colorado resident you can benefit from these small steps for living well at home, work, and school that will add up to a healthier you.

Add more color to your plate to live well.

Living well at home is easier than you may think! Whether there are one or twenty people in your home, everyone can benefit with small changes. Choosing to cut back (or eliminate) sugary drinks is a strong first step to make. According to LiveWell, children’s risk for obesity is 60% higher for every daily sugary beverage and adults who drink one or more sodas daily are 27% more likely to become obese. Other steps to consider:

• Adding more play to your day- Walking, even for as little as 30 minutes a day, can help prevent chronic disease, lower cholesterol and blood pressure, and increase energy.
• Make your plate more colorful-Adding fruits and vegetables to each meal will help you fill up on the good stuff and provide your body with important nutrients without making you feel like you’re missing out.
• Cook and eat together as a family—Research shows that kids who eat meals with their family will not only consume fewer calories than kids that do not but they’re also likely to eat more fruits and veggies.

Living well at work is simple. Choose to pack a healthy lunch and stick to it, choose to take the stairs rather than the elevator, and if you’re in charge of planning meetings where food is involved, keep it healthy. If you’re able to use your lunch break to take a walk, go for it and enjoy improved mood and focus once you’re back at work.

Children follow the lead of their parents-be sure you’re setting a good example of living well.

Children look to adults for guidance so living well at school can be tricky if everyone isn’t on board. Does your child’s school promote healthy snacks and non-food rewards? Can you feel certain that the meals your child enjoys at school are nutritious? Asking yourself simple questions like this will help lead you to understanding what small changes can be made to benefit the health of children.

Implementing healthy habits  around the home will help to encourage your child to live a healthy life. The following statistics reveal the impact of childhood obesity for the life and prosperity of children (statistics courtesy of Live Well Colorado):

• One out of 3 American children is overweight or obese.
• Over the past 3 decades, childhood obesity in the US has doubled among ages 2-5 and more than tripled among ages 6-11 and 12-19.
• An overweight adolescent has a 70% chance of becoming an overweight or obese adult. Obese 6-to-8-year-olds are approximately 10 times more likely to become obese adults than those with lower body mass index.
• Overweight children are more likely to have asthma, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol (risk factors for cardiovascular disease), apnea, joint problems, social stigmatization, and other health problems.
• According to current estimates, one-third of all children born today will develop type 2 diabetes in their lifetime.
• Data suggests that obese children and adolescents miss more school days than their normal-weight peers regardless of age, ethnicity, sex, and school attended.
• Overweight or obese children and adolescents in every grade experience poorer academic outcomes than their normal-weight peers.
• Childhood obesity is responsible for $14.1 billion in direct annual medical costs in the US.
• Children treated for obesity are four times more expensive for the health care system than the average insured child. In 2009, the average annual cost for an obese child with private health insurance was $5,270 compared to $1,320 for all children with health coverage.

“The childhood obesity epidemic threatens the health and prosperity of our nation’s children. Due to obesity-related disease, this is the first generation of children predicted to have a lower life expectancy than their parents.” 

–Live Well Colorado