And, according to the Louisiana DOE, one in three Louisiana youth is obese.

&uot;Overweight children are at risk for cardio diseases, diabetes, cancer, hypertension and other serious health factors,&uot; Nola-Ganey said.

Kay Jenkins a dietitian at Community Hospital blamed the childhood obesity problem on lifestyle.

&uot;It’s the rush, rush, hurry, hurry schedules that we have,&uot; Jenkins said. &uot;From my point of view it is the availability of fast foods, quick foods. When I was younger my mom was home with us all the time and she cooked.&uot;

Jenkins said most children should consume between 2,000 and 2,500 calories a day, but many fast food menus made it easy to do 1,500 to 1,600 in one meal.

&uot;Kids today have heart problems and high blood pressure due to obesity,&uot; she said. &uot;It’s really sad that our kids today, because of the computer age, TV, they just don’t exercise.&uot;

Jenkins said the only way to curb obesity and health problems in children is to change habits.

&uot;You have to change habits very slowly,&uot; she said. &uot;You have to cut back on the number of times you go through the fast food line. It takes planning and time on the caretaker’s part. It can’t be haphazard.

&uot;It’s not easy to do.&uot;

Of the two, 50-minute sessions students at Ferriday Lower spend in PE each week, some of that time is spent for health issues and not physical activity.

PE teacher Debbie Raley said she teaches the students nutrition education as well as other things such as dental care and character education during PE.

The nutrition portion of the class teaches them the right things to eat, she said.

&uot;We come back and talk about lunch and talk about what category it fits in,&uot; she said.

But obesity is not only about eating right but also about exercise.

When the McLaurin Elementary School students walk into physical education class they know they’ll soon be doing jumping jacks, running laps and stretching.

But that may be the most exercise some children get all week.

&uot;They know what to do,&uot; PE teacher Eabbs Grey said. &uot;We start at the beginning of the school year and they really get involved.&uot;

Powell also said with more mothers in the work force some families are forced to put their children in front of the television instead of playing outside.

&uot;A lot of kids that would be outside playing and running and jumping are latchkey kids,&uot; Powell said. &uot;They go home after school and plop down and watch TV until bedtime. All of these things together combine to form the obesity problem.&uot;

Grey, who thought her students were pretty well rounded, said age is a factor in childhood activity.

&uot;You go through phases with kids growing up year to year,&uot; Grey said. &uot;But with physical education in the schools, in the district, our kids are being more active.&uot;

Raley said she has no problem getting kids to participate in PE.

&uot;Right now their body image is good … and they want to play,&uot; she said.

At Ferriday Junior High, first- year PE teacher Shemeka White said the students above the average weight are active as well but not as active, or fast, as the slimmer students.

&uot;Some of them, they’ll participate in the activities faster than they will the exercise,&uot; she said.

The Louisiana Legislature even found physical exercise to be an important issue for students in school, passing a law that will take effect for the 2004-05 school year making 30 minutes of physical activity mandatory each day for all kindergarten through eighth grade students.

The Louisiana DOE also is working to increase awareness of the childhood obesity problem, having sent a letter to PE teachers in November to stress the importance of physical education.

Also, State Superintendent Cecil Picard named May, Healthy Kids Month, promoting healthy food and exercise to students before the summer months.

Fiscal responsibility is not one of the more fun issues for mayoral candidates to discuss. It’s not the first thing most voters want to know about; it’s not the top-of-mind issue like jobs. It’s even a cumbersome phrase.

But fiscal responsibility is one of the most important traits a mayor should bring to the office. Imagine if the mayor’s race were a series of job interviews for CEO of the city. You would want the CEO to be someone with good business sense, someone who could take the reins of the city and execute a grand vision tempered with financial responsibility.

That doesn’t necessarily mean never spending money; it means not spending beyond our means and looking for ways to boost revenue. It means making our money work for us. For some candidates, that means investing in the right places &045;&045; economic development, for example. It also means looking at ways to raise revenue &045;&045; selling excess public property &045;&045; that do not hurt taxpayers.

We urge voters to look at this issue when choosing candidates, along with the other, perhaps more exciting, considerations.

Choosing a candidate with great ideas for Natchez is important, but it is just as important for that candidate to have ways to pay for the great ideas, or at least ways to have someone else finance them.

And while it might not be the most interesting issue, it is certainly one of the most important aspects of each candidate to use to judge them.