More on childhood obesity. The news reports are sounding like a broken record regarding this, but it bears repeating because it is one of the most important things that could impact your children. About one-third of children and teens in the USA — about 25 million children — are overweight or on the brink of becoming so, government data show.

• Excess body weight in children dramatically increases their risk of developing heart disease in adulthood, research shows, including a decades-long study in Denmark that tracked what happened to 277,000 children as they grew up.

• Childhood obesity could decrease life expectancy by two to five years if something isn’t done about the epidemic, according to provocative research by pediatric endocrinologist David Ludwig, an associate professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.

• One in three obese children have excess fat in their liver, which could lead to hepatitis, cirrhosis or liver failure, Ludwig says.

The article gives tips to help motivate positive lifestyle changes:

1. Stock up on good food - Fill your house with foods that are both delicious and nutritious (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, beans, fish, lean protein, reduced-fat dairy products) and don’t bring home junk food such as cookies, cakes, sweetened cereals and sugary drinks.

2. Make sweets a treat - Save treats for special occasions. You don’t have to give up sweets entirely, but go out for them instead of having them at home, he says.

3. Ditch the drive-through - Avoid fast food, he says. Ludwig did a study that showed overweight teens consume about 400 more calories on a day when they consume fast food compared with a day in which they don’t.

4. Turn off the TV - Make physical activity the focus of the home instead of television. Don’t allow TVs in the kitchen or bedrooms.

5. Equip for exercise - Give older children the basic tools to be active: jump ropes, balls, baseball gloves, Frisbees.

6. Shake it! - Encourage them to dance. Dancing is an excellent activity, he says. “Kids love to dance in a non-judgmental setting. When they are having fun, they are not thinking about it as exercise.”

Some hearts might be broken… Matthew McConaughey has impregnated his girlfriend. He is gonna be a daddy and he is thrilled. The little one is due in about 6 months. Sorry Tab…