The fight against obesity is a personal one for Louis Yuhasz. He dearly loved his father, who people affectionately called “Big Louie.”

In 2001, Big Louie suffered two strokes that ultimately took his life. Because of his size, Big Louie was unable to fit into any CAT scan machine, which Yuhasz believes would have prevented his dad’s death.

Big Louie weighed 550 pounds when he died.

Yuhasz decided to take action to create change. In honor of his father, he started the organization Louie’s Kids (Louieskids.org) in 2001 in hopes of saving as many children as possible from suffering the same fate.

According to the American Heart Association, nearly one of every three children and adolescents is overweight or obese, making childhood obesity one of our nation’s leading health threats.

Childhood obesity is causing an increase in kids’ health risks. Many of these problems were previously only seen in adults.

“It’s a tremendous risk factor for heart disease,” says Courtney Duncan, director of communications and marketing for Coastal South Carolina American Heart Association. “This is the first generation of children that could potentially die younger than their grandparents will.”

Louie’s Kids helps obese children learn to set exercise goals and eat properly, which ultimately improves their self-esteem. The organization also raises money to send some kids to a weight-loss summer camp.

“We hope to inspire with physical activity,” Yuhasz says. “We hope to turn the kids on to any number of activities … things that a kid can do to feel like they are more athletic and to give them a little more confidence about athletics.”

Louie’s Kids recently developed two new programs. One is an after-school program called Fit Club held in Title One schools, which are located in low-income areas. The two schools currently offering Fit Club are Haut Gap Middle School on Johns Island and Garrett Academy of Technology in North Charleston.

The four-month program was custom-designed through collaborative efforts 
with school administrators and staff at schools within the Charleston area. It includes real-world nutrition education, daily physical activity, family involvement, weekly group therapy sessions with a contracted clinician and meetings at the school for encouragement and support.

Yuhasz says the children in Fit Club have to want to help themselves in order to benefit. They need support from their families and the other adults in their lives.

“The nurse at Haut Gap is a health-care hero to me. It really takes a devoted school nurse and administrative staff. They are really what make our program successful.”

The program isn’t just benefiting the 
children, it is helping their families as well.

“We’re really informing these kids and the kids are now taking home disseminating the information to their parents. It used to be the other way around, but it’s sometimes not."

The other new program developed by Louie’s Kids is Run Buddies, which partners an athletic mentor with a child to walk or run together.

The program is available to any child in Charleston who wants to be more active. Run buddies arrive at the family’s door, ready to exercise.

“They might have a single mom or they’ve got a situation where they’re not comfortable walking by themselves or mom’s not comfortable letting them go out by themselves.” *

CLICK HERE to try this recipe for Oven Fried Chicken Fingers with a Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce courtesy of Louieskids.org