Ohio Lawmakers Want Schools To Help Fight Fat

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Ohio schools would become a key battleground in the fight against childhood obesity, under legislation introduced in both the state House and Senate.

A bipartisan bill offered Tuesday would require schools to provide students with 30 minutes a day of moderate to rigorous physical activity, apart from recess. The measure also calls for more physical education for high school students, more nutritional food and drink options in schools, and regular body-mass index screenings for students every few years.

CEO Steve Allen of Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus says the legislation is needed because of what he describes as an "epidemic" of obesity in children. He says the number of overweight teenagers has tripled in the last 20 years.

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