NORWICH – The YMCA has never been an organization to shy away from an issue it found too complex. It is proving that once again by taking part in the National YMCA program to ‘Activate America.’ The Y will take little steps and hope that they amount to some serious changes.

“The initiative is the YMCA’s response to America’s growing obesity, chronic disease and health care crisis,” a YMCA newsletter said. Norwich Family YMCA Director James Mullen explained the program, saying “the goal of the National YMCA initiative, Activate America, is to make the community healthier.”

After seeing the results from a study collaborated on by the Center for Disease Control, National YMCA, Harvard Medical and Stanford Medical, it is obvious the country is in a health epidemic. “The study showed that for the first time since they began keeping records, a child’s life span is now shorter than that of their parent’s,” Mullen said.