We Like to Move

This book is Hohm Press's response to an urgent need for children's health and well-being. The statistics are shocking Obesity has become an epidemic in the United States. Not only are American adults suffering the consequences of significant overweight, but massive numbers of our children are quickly joining the ranks of the overfed and undernourished According to the latest National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), an estimated 16 percent of children and adolescents ages 6-19 years are seriously overweight, and this percentage is growing rapidly in younger children as well. This figure represents a 45 percent increase from the overweight estimates obtained from the same survey done for 1988-94. The National Institute for Health has made obesity-intervention one of its primary targets for increasing the health and longevity of all Americans by 2010. Without a turn-around, however, succeeding generations of children will suffer increased heart disease and diabetes, and will, overall, be less healthy than their parents. Nos Gusta Movernos / We Like to Move is a picture book containing upbeat, rhyming text and brilliantly-colored illustrations of young children engaging in many different forms of exercise and physical activity. The book offers multicultural depictions -- including African American, Hispanic American, and Asian American children and adults -- and varied locales, from a busy city street scene to a southwestern landscape. Each child shown is joyfully engaged in movement, demonstrating both the physical and the emotional health benefits of exercise and movement. Nos Gusta Movernos / We Like to Move conveys the message that exercise is fun, and a normal part of the life of a human being. The text and illustrations suggest that movement may be spontaneous as well as organized through sports; and that it is for everyone, from every age, gender, culture and walk of life. Even children or adults with physical handicaps can participate in some types of movement.