Whereas childhood obesity has more than quadrupled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 40 years; Whereas 17 percent or 12,550,000 children and adolescents aged 0 to 17 years are obese; Whereas childhood obesity is more prevalent among children from low-income families; for example, 14.5 percent of preschool children living below the poverty threshold are obese; Whereas significant disparities exist among the obesity rates of children based on race; for example, on average 38.5 percent of Hispanic/Latino children and 35.2 percent of African-American children ages 6 to 11 are overweight or obese, compared with 28.5 percent of Non-Hispanic White children, and American Indian/Alaska Native adolescents are 50 percent more likely than non-Hispanic Whites to be overweight; Whereas the financial implications of childhood obesity pose a financial threat to our economy and healthcare system, carrying up to $14,000,000,000 per year in direct healthcare cost, with people in the United States spending about 10 percent of their total medical costs on obesity-related illnesses; Whereas obese children ages 10 to 13 have an 80-percent chance of being obese adults and are more likely than children of normal weight to become overweight or obese adults, and therefore more at risk for associated adult health problems, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, stroke, several types of cancer, and osteoarthritis; Whereas in part due to the childhood obesity epidemic, 1 in 3 children (and nearly 1 in 2 minority children) born in the year 2000 will develop type 2 diabetes at some point in their lifetime if current trends continue; Whereas some consequences of childhood and adolescent obesity are psychosocial and can hinder academic and social functioning and persist into adulthood; Whereas participating in physical activity is important for children and teens as it may have beneficial effects not only on body weight, but also on blood pressure and bone strength