According to researchers at the Children's Nutrition Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine, big steps are needed to reverse childhood obesity trends that have one-third of America's children either overweight or obese.

Researcher's at Baylor found that because of the excess calories they are taking in, children need to walk the equivalent of 3 miles or more each day just to prevent further weight gain.

Nancy Butte, a professor of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, studied 337 children between 5-19 years of age for one year. What she found was that children who were overweight when the research period started were even more overweight a year later, with an average weight gain of 16 pounds during the year.

To reverse these gains, Butte determined that the children she was working with would have to cut their caloric intake by 260 calories per day. This is equivalent to a 3 mile or 60 minute walk or a 20 ounce bottle of pop.

Halting the childhood obesity epidemic will take more than helping children make small changes in their diet. It will take a coordinated effort by all those who touch children's lives. Parents, schools, day care centers and after school programs along with the general community need to find ways to make it easier for children to make healthier food choices and be more physically active.

Healthier restaurant choices for kids are a great start and the Coulee Region Childhood Obesity Coalition commends the 500 Club for their work. We encourage other restaurants to join this effort, along with churches, schools, youth groups and others who work with children.

We suggest all who work with children:

Offer healthy food choices at events. The University of Minnesota School of Public Health has a great set of guidelines for planning healthy food and beverage offerings at events. For a copy of the guidelines, call me at the La Crosse County Health Department at 785-9791.

Work with area schools to urge them to offer healthy choices in their vending machines, at their school stores and as fund raisers. The school environment and school staff have enormous impact on children's behaviors. Modeling healthy choices is important in shaping children eating and activity choices.

Find ways to build activity into children's days. The National Association for Sport and Physical Education recently released new physical activity guidelines for children 5-12 years of age. Among their recommendations are: Children should accumulate at least 60 minutes, and up to several hours, of physical activity each day, children should participate in several bouts of physical activity lasting 15 minutes or more each day and extended periods (periods of two hours or more) of inactivity are discouraged for children. Implementing these guidelines may mean we structure our children's days differently, but their health as well as their academic performance will benefit.

Solving the childhood obesity crisis takes a whole community working together. Solutions can be found if we think creatively and put children's health first.

Linda Lee is co-chair of the Coulee Region Childhood Obesity Coalition.