By Emmanuel T. Erediano
Variety News Staff

THE Department of Public Health has started a campaign among parents and caregivers to limit children’s time in front of television to help prevent obesity among the children of the CNMI.
Keeping children active by promoting outdoor activities is among the best ways to reduce obesity and the health problems related to it like heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure, Public Health stated.
Spending too much time in front of the television or computer monitor are among the unhealthy behaviors that have to change, Public health Secretary Joseph Kevin Villagomez said.
In a press briefing yesterday, he said that with the help of 64 health care professionals, they are working on ways to help children maintain a healthy weight throughout their lives.
Seventeen percent of two-year- olds are already overweight or obese, and at the elementary school level, the number increases to 50 percent, and to 60 percent by high school .
“Off the TV,” Villagomez said, is a comprehensive, clinically based campaign designed to help prevent childhood and adolescent obesity.
A survey called Project 10 conducted two years ago showed that 40 percent of sophomore students in the CNMI were either obese or overweight.
Limiting the children’s TV time to one hour a day and going outside with them for a least two hours are among the recommendations of Public Health to parents and caregivers.
Public Health medical director Dr. Richard Brostrom said that it takes the whole community to keep the campaign going “and make sure the children stay active to battle unhealthy lifestyles.”
He added, “We’re trying to get to the core of the problem and it’s not that hard to get children to turn off the TV in the CNMI.
Villagomez said the CNMI doesn’t have weather that keeps children indoors.
He said there are a lot of children who, instead of staying in front of the television at home, are playing baseball, soccer and other outdoor sports.
The rate of obesity in the CNMI and other Pacific jurisdictions, however, is higher that that on the U.S. mainland.
The most important goal of the Off the TV campaign, Public Health stated, is “to unify the medical community in sending a common message that weight status is a critical factor in overall health, especially in children and adolescents. It serves as a means by which doctors can increase communication with parents regarding weight status and how to make health choices in hopes of preventing childhood and adolescent obesity.”