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Minnesota-Based Child Care Co. Strives To Make Kids Healthier

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- First Lady Michelle Obama called on private businesses to do their part in her fight against childhood obesity, and 150 of them are answering her call.

A Minnesota-based child care company is one of them, and it is seeing results.

New Horizon Academy has 65 locations in the region, and the young children who spend their days there are eating better and moving more.

The Plymouth-based company is one of just seven businesses getting a shout out from The Partnership for a Healthier America.

They have completed their commitment to increasing the amount of time devoted to physical activity, and serving healthier meals and snacks.

"One of the things we did is we eliminated juice and we serve water instead at snack time because it's healthier than the juice," New Horizon Academy Spokesperson Cara Johnson-Bader said. "And we eliminated sugary treats."

More than one third of children and adolescents in the U.S. are overweight or obese. Part of the problem is not enough of them are eating fresh fruits and vegetables.

"What we'll found is that parents will share that their child is eating food that they've never eaten before," Johnson-Bader said. "And families will say things like, 'Oh my gosh, we've never had sugar snap peas before and now we are eating them.' So the children are really inspiring healthy eating habits in their parents as well."

New Horizon also added more minutes across the day that kids get to run around and play.

"Children have access to an hour to two hours a day of physical activity. Whether it's outside or indoors, just making sure that we have them moving," she said.

The changes at New Horizon Academy went into effect three years ago. They use feedback from parents and teachers to determine if these improvements are actually working.

They have also partnered with local farmers to buy produce from them, and have some of the farmers visit with the kids to talk about how the vegetables are grown.

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