Clinton champions children's weight loss

NEW YORK -- Former president Bill Clinton and Gov. Mike Huckabee, R-Ark., are putting their weight -- what's left of it -- behind an effort to get America's young people to live healthful lives.

Clinton and Huckabee, both slimmed-down versions of their former selves, have joined the American Heart Association to help get kids the word on health in partnership with the Nickelodeon network.

"I know you can do this," Clinton told a group of 30 young people gathered for the launch of the "Alliance for a Healthier Generation."

Child obesity is four times more common today than it was 20 years ago, says Robert Eckel, president of the heart association. And because obesity is linked to other diseases (diabetes, cancer, stroke), the association considers weight one of the most serious problems for the future of American children, he says.

"We need to change the way kids eat, the way they play and also the way they think about their own health," Eckel says.

The alliance's goal is to stop the rise of childhood obesity by 2010 and decrease it 10% by 2015. It plans to work with health care providers, ... // 50% Remaining