Baby Boomers will all remember the fat kid in elementary school; he or she was the one that got picked on, but never picked for teams in the school yard. He was the butt of jokes, but seldom befriended. She was never popular, but always talked about.

It wasn’t easy being the fat kid. If he or she were lucky they’d grow out of the chubby suit and become fine physical specimens, but more often than not the weight problem kids had as youngsters followed them into adulthood where the problem can become serious.

Things have change a lot since Baby Boomers were kids, and not for the better. According to The American Obesity Association a bit over one third of all American kids between the ages of 6 and 11 are overweight, and 15% of our kids are considered to be obese. This compared to around 4% of American kids who were considered obese back in 1974, and the problem seems to be getting worse.

Children with weight problems are becoming a national health issue that could have devastating effects, not just on the kids as they grow into adults, but on the U.S. economy as the problems and illnesses caused by being overweight, both mental and physical, begin to manifest themselves 10 to 20 years into the future.

Of course, not every chubby cheek child has a hard time at school or grows up to be maladjusted super-sized disease bags, but, according to the AOA, kids with weight problems have a higher tendency of getting everything from diabetes and hypertension to eating disorders and sleep apnea, all of which can lead to other far more serious health problems.

What can we do?

Well for one thing we can encourage our youngsters to become more active, get up off the couch, away from the game consoles and cartoons, and out into the real world for fresh air and exercise. It seems the folks at Nickelodeon agree because they’ve come up with a series to address just this particular problem.

Let’s Just Play: Go Healthy Challenge is a new Nickelodeon show that feature kids whose lives may be sedentary and challenges them to set goals, lose weight, and, in general, become more active and healthy. There’s no preaching about the benefits of doing so, the featured kids explain their reasons for wanting to be healthier and set their own goals while the show provides the help the may need.

For instance, in the case of Kendrick, a 12 year old from Arkansas, a fitness brawny fitness coach trains Kendrick to compete an complete a kid’s triathlon (a sporting competition where participants run, swim, and ride bicycles).

Sure, it’s a reality show for kids, but it doesn’t have all of the jacked-up drama and its goal is admirable, definitely a series to watch. Another bonus is that every episode will be available to download for free from the iTunes Store. Currently there are 2 episodes, Kick-off Special and Work Out Like A Pro. Check it out.

For more information about childhood obesity go to the American Obesity Association’s web site.

If you have younger kids at home who are fans of Winnie the Pooh then you might want to direct their 30 second attention spans to Disney’s new show, My Friends Tigger and Pooh. This new computer-animated series drops Christopher Robin and introduces Darby, a six year old girl who is inquisitive and investigative, and her side kick, Buster, a too-cute puppy. The kindergarten crowd is bound to like this show which features lots of kid-friendly action and poses questions and mysteries about the world around them.

I absolutely love the animation in this show and I wish the artists and animators would devote some time to more adult fair. As it is your kids’ eyeballs will likely be glued to the tube, and you’ll find yourself glancing over every so often too.

The free iTunes download is actually 2 episodes, Rabbit’s Ruta-Wakening and Tigger’s Shadow of a Doubt. Good stuff there.

More free stuff at the iTunes Store (with direct links):

Vern Seward is a writer who currently lives in Orlando, FL. He’s been a Mac fan since Atari Computers folded, but has worked with computers of nearly every type for 20 years.