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KIRKSVILLE, MO -- The Kirksville health community is getting together to take a stand against child obesity.

NEMO Heart Health and Northeast Regional Medical Center hosted a brainstorm session Friday afternoon.

The group raised the subject of childhood obesity, and got some input from the community to see what they could do to improve the health of Northeast Missouri children.

"The biggest thing for me was to get a bunch of people in the same room to realize that there is a bunch of people in the same room that have the same ideas as they have and be able to talk to one another," said Dr. John Rickelman from Northeast Regional Medical Center.

The group also discussed keeping children healthy by making sure they eat right and are active.

"Just learning to eat the right food and learning to eat appropriately and being active to help keep your body moving will help take care of a lot of issues," Rickelman said.

With one-third of American children overweight, the child obesity epidemic has created an enormous public health burden, giving rise to many health issues later in life not only physically, but mentally and emotionally as well.