Subway taking action to fight childhood obesity

If anybody knows what it is to be a heavy kid it's Jared Fogle, commonly known as the "Subway guy," who stopped in Salt Lake City Monday to help kick off a statewide childhood obesity campaign.

Fogle showed his famous former jeans — width rivaling length — to William Penn Elementary School students. Unhealthful eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle had Fogle tipping the scales at 425 pounds when he was 20 years old.

"I couldn't fit in airplane seats, bus seats or even the back of a car," said Fogle. "The bad eating habits started in the third and fourth grades, I believe, led me to become an obese child."

Childhood obesity has quickly become a nationwide concern. According to the Utah Department of Health, one out of every four children is overweight and almost 12 percent of Utah children are obese.

To help address the issue, Subway Restaurants of Utah announced a statewide campaign titled "Food Feud: where food and fitness are fun." It is designed to fight the fat by teaching children what to eat and how to eat it better, along with encouraging activities other than video games and Internet surfing.

The campaign consists of an assembly presentation that incorporates lessons about cleanliness, nutrition and fitness in an interactive game-show format. Among the activities, students construct a 6-foot sandwich as they learn about the components of the Food Guide Pyramid. A fitness contest involves participation from every student in the audience.

Fogle said if children learn early that exercise can be fun and that nutrition can be fun and easy, the two will go hand in hand and kids will work toward and maintain healthier lifestyles.

"It sounds cliche, but I try to teach them to do everything in moderation — whether it's eating, exercising or even eating junk food," said Fogle.

He said that this is probably one of the biggest initiatives he has seen working toward more healthy and active children.

Fogle has traveled all over the country and shared his story of losing more than half of his former weight, but he said this particular campaign is exciting because it goes one step further and takes action rather than just talking.

Beginning Monday, "Food Feud" will hit the road and be presented to nearly 25,000 elementary students in Logan, Ogden, Salt Lake, Provo and St. George area schools. Nearly 40 schools in 25 Utah cities are scheduled to participate. The program will wrap up on March 5.

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E-mail: terickson@desnews.com

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