COACH ED HIRED AS YOUTH FITNESS SPECIALIST Ed Poirier The Attleboro (Massachusetts) YMCA is the first YMCA in the nation to embark on a healthy youth initiative. Duane German, the Executive Director of the Attleboro YMCA, in announcing the initiative said that we have an obligation to help make our children healthy. The alarming growth of childhood obesity has become a national epidemic and is causing our children to develop adult health risk factors like we have never seen before. High blood pressure , diabetes, cardiac disease, bone and joint conditions are just some of the health risk that our children are facing. To head up this ambitious task, Ed Poirier has been hired as the Youth Fitness Specialist to lead our efforts. We congratulate Ed on his new position. We are pleased to add that Ed will continue to serve as an advice columnist to assist the visitors of KidsRunning.Com. Ed Poirier, "Coach Ed", recently was invited by the United States Olympic committee to attend a workshop and training seminar at the Olympic training center in California.