Nearly 1 in 3 school age children in the Pittsburgh region is overweight or obese. Last January Allegheny County launched the Live Well project to improve the health of county residents, particularly students, through health and fitness. It’s one of the leading health initiatives undertaken by Dr. Karen Hacker, Allegheny County’s Health Department Director.
The initiative that takes an overarching approach to get people thinking about how to improve their health and wellbeing. The project partners with schools in the county to educate students and keep them active.
Dr. Hacker says that for this to be successful it needs to involve the whole family and she believes that students will take their new knowledge of health from school to their homes and get their parents involved.
"One of the things I've seen to be successful is when a parent and a child decide that they're going to take this on together and they either participate in some kind of a program or they do walking together or they do some other kind of physical activity together. I think that sets a great example and it's good for both," she said.
