According to the Center For Disease Control 17% of our nation's children are obese. Administrators at the Winnebago County Health Department say the Stateline likely follows that trend.

"Seventeen to eighteen percent of that youth are falling within that BMI level of being overweight or obese. That's compared to 25 years ago only five to six and a half percent of youth were in that same category." says public health administrator Mike Bacon.

Dietitian Edie Applegate says children know when they are hungry so parents shouldn't try to force them to finish their vegetables. By that same token, she says parents are the ones who buy the food so they have a responsibility to provide their children with healthy choices. She tells us how we can tell if our child is overweight.

"So if the child is born in the 25th or 50th percentile and they are gaining weight along the 50th percentile then all of the sudden it rapidly starts to accelerate, that would be a red sign."

When it comes to keeping our children at a healthy weight Jan Jann from the YMCA says we can not underestimate the importance of exercise. That's why the YMCA has created "Youth Fit for Life," an after school program that ingrains into children healthy exercise habits they will hopefully keep for life.

"We've also noticed anecdotally that our students are telling us they're eating healthier, they're eating their vegetables now that they know a little bit more about how important it is to have a healthy diet." says Jann.

By encouraging our children to have balanced diets and get plenty of exercise maybe we can stop this epidemic of childhood obesity.

Edie Applegate encourages parents to have structured sit down snacks in between meals for their children to help discourage the kids from sneaking unhealthy food.

Jan Jann says there are over 600 kids in the Rock River Valley involved in the YMCA's "Youth Fit for Life" program. If you are interested in signing up your children you are encouraged to contact the YMCA. Non-members are welcome.