Children’s Health Foundation Lunch for Life Initiative
Combating Childhood Obesity to Promote Children’s Health and Longevity
The Children’s Health Foundation (CHF) announces Lunch for Life an initiative to raise $1 million to combat childhood obesity and transform the food environments in Colorado schools, and ultimately nation-wide. The current food environment in schools is not only a crisis of public health, it is also an urgent issue of social justice having far-reaching economic consequences. We sincerely appreciate your support of Lunch for Life.
THE PROBLEM - Why Lunch for Life is of Critical Importance: For the first time in US history, children born in the year 2000 have a shorter life expectancy than that of their parents; Obesity in US children has doubled from 15 percent in the 1970’s to nearly 30 percent today.
Though Colorado is one of the leanest states in the US, if current trends continue, by 2020, 76% of all Coloradans will be overweight or obese; In Colorado, obesity is associated with more than one-third of premature deaths. The Journal of the American Medical Association recently reported that obesity will soon be the leading cause of preventable deaths, killing more people than smoking; The consequences of these trends can be severe especially for children. Overweight children are more likely to develop diseases like high blood pressure, high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes, and experience low self-esteem and depression; The costs associated with obesity are staggering. In Colorado, an annual obesity- related medical expenditures for adults is approximately $874 million; U.S. agriculture uses 1.2 billion pounds of pesticide annually, approximately 5 pounds for every American. Mass produced, bulk processed foods are often laden with preservatives and hormones. (source: Colorado Children’s Campaign)
THE SOLUTION - Lunch for Life
Partnering with schools, community organizations and government officials, Lunch for Life systematically supports schools in banning junk food.
Lunch for Life creates a blue-print to change the paradigm of school food by providing school administrators tools, technology and resources necessary to improve meal preparation and practices, and serve healthy, diverse and nutritious meals made fresh every day from unprocessed fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
Lunch for Life educates the public and school children about the benefits of fitness and healthy eating habits.
Lunch for Life programs aim to significantly reduce the incidence of childhood obesity and related diseases caused by poor nutrition.
Lunch for Life programs will greatly improve the health and well-being of our children.
