Sign In
Skip to content

A lifetime of good health starts when we’re young.

 

Helping kids grow into healthy adults starts with building healthy habits when they are young. Parents can set their kids up for good health - and prevent many diseases - by helping them grow up at a healthy weight.

The Alaska Department of Health created the Play Every Day campaign to help more children grow up healthy and strong . Today, too many of Alaska’s kids are growing up at an unhealthy weight.

  • About 1 out of 3 Alaska children (33%) is growing up with overweight or obesity.1
  • More than 2 out of 3 Alaska adults (69%) have overweight or obesity.1
  • Being above a healthy weight increases the chances of developing weight-related chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart disease and more than a dozen types of cancer.2

These are no longer just diseases that start in adulthood. Children growing up at an unhealthy weight are developing type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol at young ages.3 They also can experience anxiety and depression, lower self-esteem, or social problems like bullying.2

Play Every Day promotes two actions that make it easier for kids to grow up at a healthy weight:

Alaska parents are serving their children fewer sugary drinks than in the past, but there are still areas for improvement.

Play Every Day supports three Healthy Alaskans 2030 priorities and objectives: increase the percentage of school age children growing up at a healthy weight, reduce the percentage of 3-year-olds who drink sugary beverages daily, and increase the percentage of youth engaging in the recommended amount of physical activity of 60 minutes every day.

  • The percentage of Alaska 3-year-olds drinking any sugary beverages on a given day dropped significantly from 31% in 2018 to 24% in 2022. This is almost a quarter of preschoolers drinking some amount of sugary beverages every day.4
  • By the time kids get to high school, more than half (53%) of Alaska teens drink one or more sugary beverages every day and only 18% of students meet the physical activity recommendation of 60 minutes every day.5

Play Every Day’s partnership with the nonprofit Healthy Futures program has made it possible for more students to be active through the Healthy Futures Challenge. Elementary schools across the state can join for free. Thousands of kids and their families stay active through this challenge that’s been ongoing for more than 20 years in Alaska.

Play Every Day and its partners are working to ensure every Alaska child has the opportunity to grow up at a healthy weight, free from preventable, weight-related diseases. Visit this webpage to learn more about the State of Alaska’s efforts to improve physical activity and nutrition for all Alaskans.


Play Every Day - Avoid sugary drinks, serve milk or water instead, showing Mom pouring a glass of milk for her 3-year-old little boy

References

  1. 1. Alaska Chronic Disease Facts: 2024 Brief Report. Alaska Department of Health, Division of Public Health, Section of Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. October 2024.
  2. 2. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion; Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity. Consequences of Obesity webpage updated July 15, 2022, and accessed October 23, 2024.
  3. 3. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion; Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity. About Obesity webpage accessed October 23, 2024.
  4. 4. Personal email communication with Childhood Understanding Behaviors manager Margaret Young, August 22, 2024.
  5. 5. Alaska Department of Health, Division of Public Health, Section of Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Youth Risk Behavior Survey Tableau Data Dissemination Platform accessed October 23, 2024.

Webpage updated October 2024

​