May 25th, 2011
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Author: Federal officials will be in Menomonee County, Wis., today to launch a new national initiative aimed at reducing obesity in Native American youth.
Larry Echo Hawk
It’s part of First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” campaign encouraging children to be physically active for at least an hour every day and pushing parents to provide them with healthy meals.
The new effort, called “Let’s Move in Indian Country,” will be announced at the Woodland Bowl Amphitheater in Keshena.
Larry Echo Hawk, assistant secretary of Indian Affairs and a member of the Pawnee Nation, will be traveling to Menomonee County along with representatives from the Office of the First Lady, the White House and Native American actor Chaske Spencer, who played roles in the Twilight films.
According to the campaign, about a third of children in the U.S. are either overweight or obese – but the percentage for Native American and Alaska Native youth is even greater, about half.
About 24,000 people live in Menomonee County, and almost all live within the Menominee Indian Reservation.
The county is impoverished and has many public health problems. It ranked last (72 out of 72 counties) in the 2011 edition of the UW Population Health Institute’s rankings of Wisconsin counties by health outcomes, health factors and mortality.
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