Health

BETHESDA, Maryland, March 24 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ -- In light of the growing problem of childhood obesity among U.S. Hispanic teens, the Weight-control Information Network (WIN) has developed a new brochure -- ¡Hazte Cargo de tu Salud! -- to help inform Hispanic teens and their families about the importance of eating healthy and incorporating physical activity into their daily lives.

A recent report by the Trust for America's Health -- F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America -- revealed that the rate of childhood obesity has more than tripled from 1980 to 2004, and Hispanic teens top the charts for being overweight among high school students in the United States.

"WIN's goal is to provide Hispanic teens and their families with current and research-based information that will not only help them make better decisions about what they eat but will also encourage them to get active," said Leslie Curtis, M.A., Director of WIN. "It is an important step that may help improve health among Spanish-speaking teens and their families."

¡Hazte Cargo de tu Salud! provides information about healthy eating and physical activity. The Spanish-language brochure offers practical tools that teens can use in their everyday life, from reading food labels and selecting how much and what foods to eat, to replacing TV time with physical activity.

To promote the brochure, WIN is reaching out to local and national organizations that serve Spanish-speaking communities to ask them to raise awareness about this valuable resource.

¡Hazte Cargo de tu Salud! is available free of charge by calling 1-877-946-4627 (toll-free) or by visiting win@info.niddk.nih.gov. Additional quantities of the booklet are also available upon request.

The Weight-control Information Network (WIN) is a national information service of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) of the National Institutes of Health. NIDDK conducts and supports research in diabetes and other endocrine and metabolic diseases; digestive diseases, nutrition, and obesity; and kidney, urologic, and hematologic diseases. Spanning the full spectrum of medicine and afflicting people of all ages and ethnic groups, these diseases encompass some of the most common, severe, and disabling conditions affecting Americans.

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