The “Wild Things” from the upcoming movie based on the classic children’s book “Where the Wild Things Are” are joining in the fight against childhood weight and obesity problems.
The US Department of Health and Human Services has already been working with Warner Brothers on a public service announcement that will use the characters from the movie, which opens in theaters next month, to send a strong message through television, radio, signs, and Internet ads across the United States.
The campaign aims to highlight the health benefits of exercise and physical activities, while encouraging children to begin having their own “ËœWild Rumpus’, just like the main character Max in Maurice Sendak’s book.
Each ad ends with a call to action by asking, “The Wild is out there; did you play today?” Families are also provided with a link to smallstep.gov, where they are given play ideas and information on physical activity and healthy eating.
The idea to use movie characters as role models to push children to be more healthy is not a new one.
The advertisements are merely a continuation of a collaborative effort to fight obesity by the Ad Council and Health Department. The group initiated the work in 2005 and has already used characters from movies like “Shrek” along with American football players that are shown calling children to “be a player” and engage in physical activity for an hour everyday.
Last year, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) made a disturbing discovery that nearly 32 percent of US children were classified overweight and 16 percent were obese.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention previously reported that over 9 million children age six and older in the United States are classified as overweight, which is triple the number in 1980.
Obese children tend to struggle intensely with social and psychological issues stemming from the stigmatization of their weight.
A more dangerous problem they face is a far greater risk of developing heart disease, high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes. They are also far more likely to be obese as adults as well.
Experts consider poor diets full of fat and sugar and greatly lacking in fresh fruits, vegetables and adequate exercise to be responsible for the epidemic, according to the report in JAMA.
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