I find this emphasis slightly troubling. While it is fine to promote healthy eating and exercise, to do it in terms of 'preventing childhood obesity' labels a whole group of kids and makes them more of a target for bullying. We all know that heavy "fat" kids get picked on. Now, whole organizations are making the demeaning of "fat kids" legitimate. I remember my pediatrician telling me, "we (medical professionals) don't really know all the causes behind obesity." He prevented me from putting my kids on any kind of diet. They were in the 100%+ percentile from the day they were born. They were breast feed for years and continued to stay in the 100+ range long before ever consuming the first bite of food (or being able to do more than role over).
At a time when denominations are joining in anti-bullying messages, please don't let this campaign go beyond healthy eating and exercise! Labeling the obese kids as "bad" is not the way to help children thrive. Please, tread lightly on these poor children's souls, they suffer enough due to the genes they have inherited. Churches should be a safe place of acceptance, not another place to be viewed as unacceptable.
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