TORONTO, January 3, 2011 – Today, the Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group (HALO) at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Research Institute, in partnership with CBC and other leading Canadian health organizations, officially launched LIVE RIGHT NOW, an unprecedented six-month initiative that will change the health of this country.

LIVE RIGHT NOW is a national program supported across three media platforms – CBC Television, CBC Radio and cbc.ca. It’s designed to ignite a movement of Canadians to make small, manageable changes that will have a large and lasting effect on their health.

“The Live Right Now campaign being initiated by CBC demonstrates the type of commitment to the promotion of healthy active living that is needed from all sectors of society. The Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group (HALO) at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario is excited to collaborate with the CBC and other partners to inspire and facilitate healthy active living for all Canadians.” Dr. Mark Tremblay, Director of HALO

Beginning today, Canadians can register at LiveRightNow.ca to join a dynamic and interactive community of people committed to making a positive change in their health – and the health of their country. The site offers tools and resources for healthy living including health and fitness challenges, blogs from health professionals, goal tracking, a body age calculator, recipes, videos, and a platform that will foster nationwide inspiration to ignite CBC’s biggest social networking movement ever.

Canadians looking to lose weight can join the national call-to-action, the Million Pound Challenge. From January to July 1, Canadians interested in losing weight are encouraged to pledge to lose a combined total of one million pounds.

Specifically, HALO is participating in LIVE RIGHT NOW by serving on the Advisory Board, providing research and content leadership, promoting the initiative through its professional, research and clinical networks, and linking to other important scientific events planned during the campaign.

Together with the other members of the LIVE RIGHT NOW Advisory Board – Breakfast for Learning, Canadian Diabetes Association, Canadian Obesity Network, Dietitians of Canada, Heart and Stroke Foundation, ParticipACTION and YMCA Canada, in partnership with President’s Choice Brand and the Ontario Medical Association – HALO will help CBC to create a positive, fun and supportive environment for Canadians to start leading healthier lives in 2011 and beyond.

About Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group (HALO)
As a national centre of excellence, HALO strives to provide national and international leadership in the prevention, management and treatment of pediatric obesity and the promotion of healthy body weights and active living. For more information, visit http://www.cheori.org/halo/