Children whose parents are overweight or obese are at higher risk for becoming obese themselves. One study found that for a child under 10, having an obese parent more than doubled the child's risk for becoming an obese adult. More

Getting Started

Balanced Ways to Attain a Healthful Weight

Exercise for the Seriously Unfit

Get Support to Beat Bad Habits

Why Portion Sizes Are Important

A Workable Guide to Managing Your Weight

Call to Action
Poor diet and inactivity are poised to become the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, warns the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Formerly No. 1: tobacco use.

Nutrition
Deaths from poor diet and inactivity have risen by 33 percent over the last decade. Sixty-four percent of us are now obese or overweight.

Exercise
One in five U.S. children is overweight or obese. That's twice as many as 20 years ago, says the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Behavior
If Mom and Dad are couch potatoes, it can be contagious. It's easier to prevent obesity in childhood than try to correct the problem as an adult.

Related Health Issues
Being obese or overweight increases the risk for type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, gout and a host of other health problems.