My current occupation involves working to prevent childhood obesity in children aged 0-5. I work for a collaboration of agencies that make a commitment towards obesity prevention by taking on projects that promote healthy eating and active living for little kids, but also encourages adopting environmental and organizational policy change in the work place.

Many of our partnering organizations work directly with young children: child care agencies, community non-profits, hospitals. The goal of adopting organizational policy is to encourage modeling good behavioral practices for our children. You can’t tell a child to eat more vegetables while munching on a donut. Kids learn from us by watching us and acting accordingly.

If you want to change your child’s behavior, you have to look at how your own behavior influences theirs. This is an individualistic idea, however, my organization’s goal is to work with the local community using this same concept.

Changing the lives of our children requires the work of the community. Low income and poor families can not raise healthy and happy children on their own. They need our help.

While doing some work..I found this video that sums up my point visually, and I must say quite emotionally.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbSp88PBe9E&feature=related]

This video asks organizations to invest in our children. If you, personally, were convinced of this idea, you might be wondering what you can do.

Vote.

Nov. 2nd is a day this year that we get to decide how this country is run and who is going to run it. This isn’t about who is running for President. It’s about who is going to be your governor, what propositions are going to be passed, who is going to be your district attorney, who is going to be sitting as a judge in your county, what is going to be done to clean up the streets in your neighborhood. All of these things combined affect the lives of our community, our families and our children.

You may not have all the money needed, but you have the power to make change.

“Make that change.” Vote on Nov. 2nd.