Officials have launched a campaign called the “Hawaii 5-2-1-0 Let’s Go Initiative” to tackle childhood obesity.

The campaign is an effort of the University of Hawaii-Manoa John A. Burns School of Medicine, Hawaii Initiative for Childhood Obesity Research and Education, and several local health care organizations.

Providers and health care partners will provide recommendations that kids each day get:

» Five fruits, roots and vegetables.
» Two hours or less of “screen time” at the TV, computer and other devices.
» One hour or more of physical activity and play.
» Zero or almost no sugary drinks.

A 2003 Hawaii study found that almost 1 out of 3 children entering kindergarten was overweight or obese, Dr. Ken Nakamura, chairman of the UH Department of Pediatrics, said at a news briefing yesterday. The problem appears worse in rural communities, where up to 40 percent of Hawaii’s public school children entering kindergarten were overweight or obese.

Obese children are more likely to develop early risk factors for adult chronic disease such as high blood pressure and diabetes.

Dr. May Okihiro, director of the Hawaii Initiative for Childhood Obesity Research and Education, said food portion sizes have ballooned, along with salt, sugar and fat content.

“Hawaii’s cultural traditions that embrace food as an offering of gratitude and graciousness have evolved to support this. We love food. All of us do,” Okihiro said. “But our children, all of us really, are now feeling the effects of these incredible changes over the last three generations.”

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