NBA Star Helps Promote Fitness, Lower Family Health Insurance Costs

Efforts to promote child health and control increases in the cost of family health insurance picked up a high-profile supporter recently.

NBA superstar Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics recently announced that he is launching "The Truth on Health" campaign. One part of the problem will ask participating youths from age 10-14 to pledge to spend an hour day doing physical activities while also eating healthier.

"Staying active and eating well has been a huge part of my success, so I think it's critical that kids understand how important exercise and nutrition are to leading a happy and fulfilling life," Pierce is quoted as saying in a report on his official website.

Recent studies have found that along with being increasingly inactive, most children get far less than their recommended daily allowance of fruits and vegetables.

With family health insurance costs rising quickly, one good way for parents to hold down costs is to serve as good role models with physical fitness and help steer children away from habits that could result in expensive pre-existing conditions like diabetes and heart diseases in the future.