If you or your kids are tech savvy here is your chance to develop your own App..As a nutrition professional, I look for any opportunity for children and teens to move their body. Whether it is organized sports, swimming, dancing, using the Wii Fit or walking to school..our children need more physical activity! First Lady Michelle Obama agrees…check out this great competition based on the United States Department of Agriculture’s Healthy Kids Initiatives….

The Apps for Healthy Kids competition is a part of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! campaign to end childhood obesity within a generation. Apps for Healthy Kids challenges software developers, game designers, students, and other innovators to develop fun and engaging software tools and games that drive children, especially “tweens” (ages 9-12) – directly or through their parents – to eat better and be more physically active.

Childhood obesity or excess weight threatens the healthy future of one third of American children. We spend approximately $150 billion every year to treat obesity-related conditions, and that number is growing.

Obesity rates tripled in the past 30 years, a trend that means, for the first time in our history, American children may face a shorter expected lifespan than their parents. We need to get moving!

Tools and games should be built using the USDA nutrition dataset recently made available to the public through the Open Government Initiative. The dataset provides information on total calories, calories from “extras” (solid fats and added sugars), and MyPyramid food groups for over 1,000 commonly eaten foods. We are seeking innovative and creative tools and games that use the USDA dataset to deliver nutrition and health concepts in a fun and engaging way.

http://www.appsforhealthykids.com/