We Can!^® Resources for Your Family

We Can! provides information and resources to help your family stay healthy. The Healthy Weight Basics, Eat Right, Get Active, Reduce Screen Time, and Tools and Resources sections of this website include useful information and tips created specifically for individuals, parents, caregivers, and families.

Get started with the resources below.

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Weight Management

Families Finding the Balance: A Parent Handbook (1.5 MB)
This We Can! resource offers practical tips to help parents help their families find the right balance of eating healthy and being physically active to maintain a healthy weight.

Determining Your Child's BMI
Body mass index, or BMI, is a measure of a person's body weight compared to his/her height. BMI can help a person determine if he/she is at a healthy weight. To find out if your child is at a healthy weight for his/her height, age, and sex, you can use a special BMI table designed for children (164 KB). For more information about BMI percentile and growth charts for children and to find a child BMI calculator, visit http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/bmi/bmi-for-age.htm.

Healthy Eating and Nutrition

Making Healthier Food Choices (1.3 MB)
Find tips to help you make healthier food choices for your family when eating in or dining out.

U R What U Eat (1.4 MB)
Food supplies the nutrients needed to fuel your body so you can perform your best. Use this tip sheet to help your kids recognize "Go, Slow, Whoa" foods, and help them make smarter food choices.

Keep the Beat Recipes: Deliciously Healthy Eating
Delicious, heart-healthy recipes are as good for your heart as they are for your taste buds! Staying healthy can be a challenge, but lifestyle changes like eating healthfully and being physically active can help lower your risk for heart disease and other conditions. The Keep the Beat^® Recipes: Deliciously Healthy Family Meals Cookbook (8.7 MB) contains more than 40 recipes that are quick, simple, and taste great. Order a free copy of the cookbook.

We Can! Parent Tips: Using the Nutrition Facts Label (912 KB)
Most packaged foods have a Nutrition Facts label. Use this tip sheet to help make healthy food choices quickly and easily.

Healthy Snacks - 100 Calories or Less (81 KB)
Try the tasty and easy snacks listed on this tip sheet to satisfy your hunger between meals. They fit right into a healthy eating plan, and each has 100 or fewer calories. The key thing is to pay attention to portion sizes; larger portions mean more calories.

Physical Activity and Exercise

Everyday Ideas to Rev Up Activity
This page offers suggestions that can get your family to move more to help all of you maintain a healthy weight. From tips to get more physical activity and exercise to strategies to make family time more active, this page can help you get started. Choose a different tip each week for you and your family to try.

Help Your Kids Reduce Screen Time and Move Move (1.3 MB)

Screen Time

Help Your Kids Reduce Screen Time and Move Move (1.3 MB)
This tip sheet offers simple tips to help your children reduce their screen time and increase physical activity in order to maintain a healthy weight. Use the
We Can! Screen Time Chart (141 KB) to help track your family's screen time. Put it in an easy location for everyone to use and see, such as near the family television, by the computer, or on the refrigerator.