You've all heard the one about how dad walked two miles to school in sub-zero temperatures, uphill both ways. But how about this one: Today, less than 7 percent of children walk or bicycle to school. Dr. Richard J. Jackson, senior adviser to the director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, points out that this is one of the many reasons that today's average 11-year-old boy is 11 pounds heavier than his counterpart in 1973, and 15 percent of children are overweight.

Educating parents about childhood obesity is part of a statewide initiative.

What's more, nearly 65 percent of all adults are overweight. That adds up to 120 million Americans who are at increased risk for cancers, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and arthritis. The cost to businesses in lost work time, productivity and health insurance premiums is a staggering $99.2 billion, according to the frequently cited 1998 study by A.M. Wolf and G.A. Colditz.

These statistics on obesity have been a wake-up call to educators, health professionals, food service workers and politicians who are looking for solutions to implement on a statewide and national level. Penn State is on the forefront of the issue, with a coordinated approach that addresses the problem with exercise and diet education and innovative community design.

Community Action
"Children are not walking to school, because we've created communities that do not support healthy, active lifestyles," said Michael Rios, director of Penn State's Hamer Center for Community Design Assistance and co-chair of the Active Community Environments initiative of the Pennsylvania Advocates for Nutrition and Activity (PANA), a coalition that aims to facilitate the state's Nutrition and Physical Activity Plan.

Suburban sprawl, heavily trafficked roads and a reliance on the "mom bus" have severed the walking and biking paths used by past generations. To help communities promote pedestrian-friendly, environmentally oriented residential development in urban and rural communities, Rios and a team of Penn State architecture and landscape architecture faculty have developed PennSCAPEs, a multimedia education and empowerment tool.

Presented through highly visual, interactive graphics, PennSCAPEs provides model codes and architectural guidelines for neighborhood design and development to aid designers, citizens and municipal officials. Almost 750 copies of the CD-ROM have been distributed, and individuals from more than 20 states have accessed the PennSCAPEs Web site (http://www.pennscapes.psu.edu).

In addition, Penn State Outreach plans to expand its role with PANA, which, among other efforts, is working to increase statewide support for community design strategies that promote public health and quality of life.

Healthier School Lunches
Another tactic has been to target children through school lunches. Dr. Claudia Probart is working on this as the director of Project PA, a collaboration between Penn State's Department of Nutritional Sciences and the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The project was established in 1994 to help the Commonwealth's 900 public and private school sponsors of the National School Lunch Program meet federal dietary guidelines.

"Our schools provide nearly a million lunches every day," said Patricia Birkenshaw, chief, Division of Food and Nutrition, Pennsylvania Department of Education. "We realized we needed a credible partner with experience in training, nutrition and education issues, so we went directly to Dr. Probart at Penn State."

Probart added, "We believe that today's school lunch program can proactively fight obesity, just as it was successful in fighting the nutritional deficiencies of children in the 1950s."

As a result of Project PA and other outreach education to the Commonwealth's schools, fat content in lunches has gone down from 42 percent (a decade ago) to the recommended 30 percent level.

Penn State researchers are developing sweets with nutritional value.

The partnership is now developing nutrition education materials to inform parents of the variables that contribute to childhood obesity and to promote healthy nutrition habits and exercise. "If we want to educate responsibly about the childhood obesity epidemic, we must also include families in the effort," Birkenshaw said.

Outreach Education
Education for educators and parents alike is the goal of the 2004 Creating Health: Childhood Obesity program. Co-produced by Penn State Public Broadcasting's Patty Satalia and Jeff Hughes, the program will highlight the struggles and successes of people around the state as they work to address the issues of obesity. Childhood Obesity will air on WPSX-TV as part of the successful Creating Health series and be distributed with supplemental printed materials to Penn State Cooperative Extension educators for use in their communities.

Product Development
Dr. Peter Bordi is taking a more palatable approach to obesity. Through the Center for Food Innovation in Penn State's School of Hospitality Management, he is shaping the future of healthy foods by working with Pennsylvania restaurant and grocery chains, food service organizations like Aramark and industry giants like Heinz, Hershey and Sheetz.

"We're helping with product development, taste panel research and implementation of best practices," Bordi said. He and his students are essentially nutrition engineers working to develop appetizing new products that address health and nutrition needs. Bordi's Super Chocolate Creamy Peanut Butter Bar might just do the trick. With 23 percent fewer calories, less sugar and more protein than comparable sweets, Bordi is betting consumers will eat it up. Manufacturers seem to agree, and Bordi is negotiating its sale.

"Because we're a research/teaching university, we're able to really work to find solutions," Bordi said.

Project GAME
Good nutrition is only one element of a healthy lifestyle; researchers are also working on creative ways to encourage exercise.

You might not think video games provide much opportunity for movement, but then you probably haven't tried the newest wave of motion-activated video games. Instead of using a joystick, gamers need to boogie, kickbox or karate chop their way to winning. Fans report working up a sweat, but Penn State kinesiology professor Dr. George Graham and his Project GAME team are researching the real outcomes in terms of calories burned and muscles toned.

"Our children's lack of physical activity is a national crisis," said Graham, president of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education. "Competitive sports aren't the answer for everyone, so we're advocating for nontraditional physical activities like inline skating or kayaking."

And video games, too?

"That's why we're doing the research," Graham said. In the meantime, he suggests limiting television and traditional video games.

Instead, take a walk, just like dad once did.