As the problem of childhood obesity becomes increasingly serious, more parents are reading labels to choose the right foods for their kids. Now, a team from Nationwide Children's Hospital has developed a website that calculates a food's "health".

"Keeping track of all that information can be confusing, which is why http://www.snackwise.org was designed to do it for you. Dr. Robert Murray, Director of the Center for Health Weight and Nutrition at Nationwide Children's Hospital says it's information some parents have gone too long without."

A parent who wants to test snacks or other foods simply needs to go to the website and enter some information from the food's label. The website then puts the food in one of three categories: red - choose rarely, yellow - choose occasionally, and green - the best choice." Read more at MediLexicon.com.

Labels: calories, snacks, tools

Beginning December 1st, Michigan doctors will have a toolkit designed to help them address the problem of childhood obesity. Developed for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan by eight area doctors, it is believed to be the state's first comprehensive childhood obesity toolkit of its kind.

"Containing about 20 pages of information for physicians, as well as posters to adorn their waiting rooms, the kit offers a number of... helpful resources, including: Body mass index charts that are age-specific for children and offer a quick and efficient way to gauge a child's weight in proportion to his or her height and age."

Other resources include ways to identify and manage type-2 diabetes and hypertension in children, and ways to effectively communicate with families about the importance of developing and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

The Sierras Solution is another great tool for families dealing with obesity.

Labels: information, resources, tools