Enhancing Nutrition Education and Physical Activities in Chinese Community: We Can! Chinese Family Campaign

Abstract Early childhood obesity is a serious health problem in the United States. It has adverse and long-lasting consequences for children, parents and entire communities. The magnitude of the problem has increased dramatically over the last three decades. The high prevalence of obesity has significant health consequences and increases expenditures for health care. Although federal and state governments have a long history of fighting the problem of childhood obesity by formulating health policies and requirements, early childhood obesity in California has become an epidemic. In this paper I will introduce my fieldwork project, the We Can! Chinese Families Campaign, and explain how this nutrition project can reduce childhood obesity in the Chinese low-income community in San Francisco. The We Can! Chinese Families Campaign is based on the National Institute of Health’s program, Ways to Enhance Children’s Activity and Nutrition (We Can!). In order to help children stay at a healthy weight, the We Can! Chinese Families Campaign focuses on encouraging whole families to make better food choices, increase exercise and reduce excessive mobile and computer usage