Emma Heming Willis, the wife of Die Hard franchise star Bruce Willis, took to Instagram to share a sad update on the star’s condition.
As reported in March of last year, Willis was forced to step away from his acting career following the diagnosis of a brain condition known as aphasia, but Emma revealed Thursday things have taken a turn for the worse.
The message came in the form of a lengthy caption and a statement, as well as a photo of Bruce smiling on a beach.
The message began with Emma offering “our deepest gratitude for the incredible outpouring of love, support and wonderful stories we have all received since sharing Bruce’s original diagnosis.”
She continued, “Bruce’s condition has progressed and we now have a more specific diagnosis: frontotemporal dementia (known as FTD).”
Emma added, “Unfortunately, challenges with communication are just one symptom of the disease Bruce faces. While this is painful, it is a relief to finally have a clear diagnosis,” directing followers to a longer statement.
She called FTD “a cruel disease” for which there is no treatment.
She added of the Pulp Fiction star, “We know in our hearts that — if he could today — he would want to respond by bringing global attention and a connectedness with those who are also dealing with this debilitating disease.”
The statement continued, “Bruce has always found joy in life – and has helped everyone he knows to do the same. It has meant the world to see that sense of care echoed back to him and to all of us. We have been so moved by the love you have all shared for our dear husband, father, and friend during this difficult time. Your continued compassion, understanding, and respect will enable us to help Bruce live as full a life as possible.”
(EAST LANSING, Mich.) — Three students were killed and five others were injured when a gunman opened fire at two locations on Michigan State University’s main campus in East Lansing on Monday night, police said.
After an hourslong manhunt, police found the suspect — identified as 43-year-old Anthony McRae — dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound off campus.
All five injured students were in critical condition as of Tuesday, officials said.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Feb 16, 2:46 PM EST
Suspect’s handguns were legally purchased but not registered
The suspect in Monday’s mass shooting at Michigan State had two 9 mm handguns and additional magazines and ammunition on him when he was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Michigan State University Interim Deputy Chief Chris Rozman said at a news conference Thursday.
The guns were purchased legally but were not registered, Rozman said.
The suspect, 43-year-old Anthony McRae, was found dead about 3.8 miles from the MSU campus on Monday night, Rozman said.
McRae had a two-page note that listed threats against Michigan State, two New Jersey schools, and 13 local businesses, including a Meijer grocery store chain warehouse where he had previously worked, Michigan State Police said.
Body camera video showed McRae did not say anything to officers before he died by suicide, authorities said.
Police said they interviewed McRae’s father who indicated that his son rarely left his room and had no friends.
Marlon Lynch, MSU’s vice president for public safety and chief of police, commended the students who helped render aid to their classmates when gunfire erupted in Berkey Hall.
Four of the injured students were in critical condition and one was in stable condition on Thursday, officials said.
Their names have still not been released.
-ABC News’ Alex Perez and Whitney Lloyd
Feb 15, 7:17 PM EST
Thousands gather on campus for memorial vigil
Thousands of mourners gathered at Michigan State University’s campus Wednesday night to pay their respects to the students who were shot Monday.
School president Teresa K. Woodruff spoke at the event, which included poems, songs and reflections from students and elected officials including Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
“We remember and honor the three Spartan students so cruelly taken from their families, friends and us.” she said. “Each came to join the very special, this extraordinary campus.”
Whitmer, a Michigan State alum, spoke about the courageous efforts that students and teachers did to help the wounded. She said she spoke to one of the hospitalized victims who told her that a fellow student took off their shirt and used it to put pressure on his wound and save his life.
“Countless Spartans were heroes,” the governor said.
Michigan State head basketball coach Tom Izzo said he also visited the hospital where some of the wounded were recuperating and called on the community to keep those victims in their thoughts.
He also urged the campus community to take comfort in their friends and family as they process the violence.
“We all process trauma in a very different way, I’m just glad we’re all here tonight.”
Feb 15, 1:26 PM EST
MSU students protest at Michigan capitol
Michigan State students channeled their grief into protest as they gathered at the capitol in Lansing to urge gun reform.
Hundreds braved cold and windy weather as they sat on the building’s majestic steps and listened to sympathetic and angry speeches calling for legislative action to curb the violence they and students across the nation have been exposed to.
-ABC News’ Andy Fies
Feb 15, 7:13 AM EST
Communities mourn victims at vigils across Michigan
Hundreds of people gathered at memorials, prayer services and candlelight vigils across Michigan on Tuesday night to honor the three students who were killed and five others who were injured in Monday’s mass shooting at Michigan State University.
More vigils are planned for the rest of the week, including one scheduled for Wednesday at 6 p.m. ET at The Rock, a 149-year-old landmark on MSU’s main campus in East Lansing.
Feb 15, 6:06 AM EST
MSU students recount deadly mass shooting on campus
Michigan State University student Dominik Molotky was in class on Monday evening when he heard a gunshot in the hallway, just outside the door.
“I was sitting next to the nearest door and thank god that my fight-or-flight response kicked in because, right when that first gunshot went off, I booked it to the far corner of the class,” Molotky, a senior, told ABC News in an interview Tuesday on Good Morning America.
A couple seconds later, the gunman entered the classroom and fired “three to four more rounds,” Molotky said.
“I was ducking and covering,” he recalled. “I think one of the students in my class got hit.”
When the gunfire stopped for “30 seconds to a minute,” Molotky said he and his classmates started breaking open a window so they could escape.
“There was glass everywhere,” he added. “We broke open the window and climbed out of there, and I booked it back to my apartment.”
Molotky and other students recounted their horrifying experiences as the mass shooting unfolded at multiple locations on MSU’s main campus in East Lansing, Michigan.
Feb 15, 5:42 AM EST
MSU student survives bloodshed 14 months after another mass shooting
ABC News spoke to Matt Riddle, who said his daughter survived the bloodshed at Michigan State University on Monday night, 14 months after surviving another deadly mass shooting at a high school in Oxford, Michigan.
The shooting at Oxford High School on Nov. 30, 2021, left four people dead and seven others wounded.
“Having been through it in Oxford … it helped her understand what she needs to do in these situations,” Riddle told ABC News during an interview on Tuesday night. “I don’t like that she has those tools. I wish she didn’t, but she does.”
Feb 14, 7:58 PM EST
Classes to resume on Monday
Classes at Michigan State, which have been canceled in the wake of the tragic shooting, will resume on Monday, school officials said.
A vigil is also planned on campus Wednesday night in honor of the victims, all of whom were students at the school, officials said.
“We are devastated by this tragedy and wrap our collective arms around the victims’ families and friends who face unimaginable injury and loss,” Kim Tobin, vice president of university advancement, said in a statement Wednesday announcing the details.
Feb 14, 6:27 PM EST
Victim Arielle Anderson remembered for passion to help others
Arielle Anderson, a junior from Grosse Pointe, Michigan, was one of the three Michigan State students killed in the shooting. Her family remembered her as a “precious daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, cousin, and friend” in a statement shared Tuesday evening through her mother’s employer, Comerica Bank.
“As much as we loved her, she loved us and others even more,” the family said. “She was passionate about helping her friends and family, assisting children and serving people.”
Anderson, who was described as “sweet and loving with an infectious smile,” wanted to be a surgeon, her family said.
“Driven by her aspiration to tend to the health and welfare of others as a surgeon, she was working diligently to graduate from Michigan State University early to achieve her goals as quickly as possible,” the family said.
“We are absolutely devastated by this heinous act of violence upon her and many other innocent victims,” the statement added.
Feb 14, 3:26 PM EST
University releases names of victims
The three Michigan State students killed in the shooting have been identified by university police.
Brian Fraser, a sophomore, and Arielle Anderson, a junior, were both from Grosse Pointe, Michigan.
Alexandria Verner, a junior, was from Clawson, Michigan.
Five other students remain in the hospital in critical condition following the attack.
Feb 14, 2:19 PM EST
Suspect walked from his home to campus, viewed himself as ‘loner’
The FBI offered new details on the suspected gunman in a confidential briefing to law enforcement on Tuesday.
Investigators have determined 43-year-old Anthony McRae walked from his home to Michigan State and had no connection to the university or the victims.
Authorities said that when McRae was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, he had a “3-page document expressing his reasons for the attack and a number of additional locations in Lansing and Holt, Mich.; Ewing Township and Franklin Park, NJ; and Colorado Springs, Colo., which had ‘hurted’ (sic) him and, therefore, were deserving of attack.” Agents believe he had “personal grievances” with people at those locations.
McRae lived with his father, who is cooperating with the investigation, the FBI reported.
Investigators said the suspect’s writings confirmed he “was often alone.” The briefing said the gunman viewed himself as “a loner” and an “outcast” who was “never noticed or accepted by others.”
-ABC News’ Josh Margolin
Feb 14, 1:12 PM EST
Biden urges Congress to ‘enact commonsense gun law reforms’
President Joe Biden said in a statement Tuesday, “Our hearts are with these young victims and their families, the broader East Lansing and Lansing communities, and all Americans across the country grieving as the result of gun violence.”
Biden noted that the Michigan State mass shooting came one night before the U.S. marked five years since the Parkland, Florida, high school massacre. In the Feb. 14, 2018 school shooting in Parkland, 17 students and staff were gunned down.
“I have taken action to combat this epidemic in America, including a historic number of executive actions and the first significant gun safety law in nearly 30 years, but we must do more,” Biden said.
He stressed, “Congress must do something and enact commonsense gun law reforms, including requiring background checks on all gun sales, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, closing loopholes in our background check system, requiring safe storage of guns, and eliminating immunity for gun manufacturers who knowingly put weapons of war on our streets. Action is what we owe to those grieving today in Michigan and across America.”
Feb 14, 1:04 PM EST
Timeline of the shooting
The first active shooter call came in at 8:18 p.m. from Berkey Hall, an academic building, and the university immediately told students to shelter in place, the Michigan State University Police Department said.
Shots were fired soon after at the student union.
At about 11 p.m., the suspected gunman was seen on campus security cameras, police said.
Images of the suspect were shared with the public at 11:18 p.m., police said.
At about 11:35 p.m., a caller’s tip led police to the suspect, authorities said.
Feb 14, 12:36 PM EST
Suspect had 2 guns, numerous magazines
The suspected shooter, 43-year-old Anthony Dwayne McRae, lived in Lansing, officials said.
The shooter died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound as law enforcement was approaching, a law enforcement source briefed on the situation said.
The source added that a firearm was recovered at the scene, and a second firearm was found in a backpack along with numerous magazines.
McRae served 18 months in prison between 2019 and 2021 on a weapons charge for having a loaded weapon in his vehicle, according to Michigan’s Department of Corrections.
-ABC News’ Lucien Bruggeman, Luke Barr and Josh Margolin
Feb 14, 12:25 PM EST
Michigan State police releases names of 2 victims
Two of the three Michigan State students killed in the shooting have been identified by university police.
Brian Fraser, a sophomore, was from Grosse Pointe, Michigan, while Alexandria Verner, a junior, was from Clawson. Authorities said they will not be naming the third victim at the request of the family.
Five other students remain in the hospital following the attack.
Feb 14, 11:56 AM EST
Shock, fear, confusion at Michigan State
At Michigan State, students and staff are overcome with shock, fear and confusion, Lansing Mayor Andy Schor told ABC News’ GMA3.
“It’s a terrible time. No mayor, no governor, no elected official ever wants to be up all night or wake up to a situation like this,” he said.
Schor said mental health resources are available.
Schor said the five injured students “are critical but stable.”
“It’s touch and go,” he said. “and the doctors are doing their best to work as aggressively as possible.”
Feb 14, 11:02 AM EST
Suspect had note indicating threat to NJ schools
When the suspect, 43-year-old Anthony McRae, was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said there was a note in his pocket indicating a threat to two public schools in Ewing, New Jersey, according to Ewing police.
McRae had local ties to Ewing but hasn’t lived in the area in several years, police said.
Ewing Public Schools are closed on Tuesday out of an abundance of caution, police said. However, no threat has been found and schools are expected to reopen on Wednesday, police said.
McRae “had a history of mental health issues,” police added.
Feb 14, 8:47 AM EST
No motive known
No motive is known, police said. The 43-year-old suspect, Anthony McRae, had no known connection to the university, according to authorities.
After police released the suspect’s photo, a tip from a caller led authorities to finding him, officials said.
A search warrant has been executed at a home, police said.
Feb 14, 8:14 AM EST
Michigan leaders call out US gun violence
At a news conference Tuesday, Michigan leaders called out the prevalence of U.S. gun violence.
Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., said, “I cannot believe I am here again doing this 15 months later,” speaking at the scene of another Michigan school shooting, referring to the November 2021 mass shooting at Oxford High School where four students were killed and several others were injured.
“I am filled with rage that we have to have another press conference about our children being killed in schools,” she said.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer added, “We’re all broken by an all-too-familiar feeling.”
“We cannot keep living like this,” she said. “Our children are scared to go to school. People feel unsafe in their houses of worship or local stores.”
Feb 14, 6:00 AM EST
City manager thanks ‘brave’ first responders after ‘horrific act of violence’
Interim East Lansing City Manager Randy Talifarro described Monday night’s mass shooting at Michigan State University as a “horrific act of violence.”
“The City of East Lansing is mourning the devastating shooting that occurred on the campus of Michigan State University tonight,” Talifarro said in a statement. “Our hearts go out to all of the victims of this horrific act of violence as well as their family and friends. East Lansing and MSU have always shared in each other’s victories and each other’s losses. Tonight, we hold space while we grapple with this devastating loss of life together.”
Talifarro also thanked the “brave first responders who quickly responded to MSU’s campus.”
“Against every natural instinct they ran towards the sound of danger, seeking not their own wellbeing, but instead to protect and serve those in need,” he said. “And we stand shoulder to shoulder with everyone impacted by tonight’s events. Please know that you’re not alone in your grief. We stand with you and will be here as we seek to heal as a community.”
City buildings and offices, including city hall, the public library and the district court, will be closed to the general public on Tuesday. Essential city employees will be reporting to work.
Drop-in counseling services will be available for members of the community at the East Lansing Hannah Community Center beginning at 9 a.m. ET.
Record Store Day has announced the list of exclusive releases for its 2023 event, taking place in independent record stores on April 22. Here are some of the pieces that will be available:
The 2020 John Lennon compilation Gimme Some Truth is being released as a box set consisting of nine 10-inch vinyl EPs. Meanwhile, Paul McCartney is contributing a 50th anniversary reissue of the 1973 Wings album Red Rose Speedway, while fellow surviving Beatle Ringo Starr is putting out a reissue of his 1981 solo effort, Stop and Smell the Roses.
Keith Richards‘ long out-of-print Vintage Vinos collaboration will be out as a two-LP set, while The Rolling Stones‘ 1968 classic Beggars Banquet is being reissued on vinyl with its original artwork.
Stevie Nicks‘ Bella Donna Live1981, capturing a 1981 live show supporting the Fleetwood Mac star’s first solo album, is making its vinyl debut. Fleetwood Mac’s early single “Albatross” is also getting a vinyl reissue.
And U2 is celebrating the 40th anniversary of their album War with a 12-inch EP featuring remixed versions of “Two Hearts Beat As One” and “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” as well as two versions of the same songs from their upcoming Songs of Surrender album, which drops March 17. The EP will be released on 180g white vinyl.
RSD 2023 will also feature exclusive releases from Duran Duran, The Allman Brothers Band, David Byrne, The Cranberries, The Cure, The Doors, Emerson, Lake & Palmer,Jerry Garcia Band, The Grateful Dead, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Billy Joel, Elton John, Todd Rundgren, T. Rex, Van Halen, Yes and Warren Zevon.
For the full list of releases and participating stores, visit RecordStoreDay.com.
(DELAND, Fla.) — The 3-year-old boy shot himself with a handgun that was left in a nightstand, according to police.
A 3-year-old boy fatally shot himself when he found a 9 mm handgun in a nightstand in his Florida home, according to authorities.
The tragedy unfolded Wednesday evening at a home in DeLand, about 40 miles north of Orlando.
The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office called it “one of the worst calls imaginable” to respond to.
The shooting occurred as the 3-year-old and a 7-year-old were being watched by their 16-year-old sister while the parents were grocery shopping, Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said at a news conference Thursday.
The gun was discharged once, the sheriff said.
He shot himself in the face, according to the sheriff’s office incident report.
Chitwood called the 16-year-old’s 911 call “heartbreaking.”
In her frantic call, the girl told the dispatcher, “My little brother shot himself!”
“There is blood everywhere!” she said, screaming and crying.
It’s not clear exactly how the boy got into his father’s nightstand and discharged the gun, Chitwood said.
Chitwood said the gun was usually kept in a safe, which was not working.
The family had a second gun on top of the fridge, he said.
The boy’s father is a state corrections officer, Chitwood said, adding that the guns were not department-issued.
“This should never have happened,” he said.
No charges have been filed. The sheriff’s office noted that, per Florida law, when a child is accidentally shot, “no arrest shall be made prior to 7 days after the date of the shooting.”
The sheriff pleaded with gun owners to keep them in safes.
“If you have little ones, even if you have teenagers, you gotta lock them up,” he said.
Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
(HIGHLAND PARK, Ill.) — The father of the suspected Highland Park, Illinois, mass shooter pleaded not guilty Thursday after he was indicted by a grand jury on seven counts of reckless conduct, according to the county prosecutor.
Robert Crimo Jr. is accused of signing the Firearm Owner’s Identification card for his son, Robert Crimo III, to apply for gun ownership. The younger Crimo was 19 at the time and and too young to get a FOID card on his own. Illinois at the time required people ages 18, 19 or 20 to have parent or guardian authorization.
“Parents who help their kids get weapons of war are morally and legally responsible when those kids hurt others with those weapons,” Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said in a statement Wednesday.
Robert Crimo III is accused of killing seven people and injuring dozens of others in the mass shooting at a 2022 Fourth of July parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park.
Crimo Jr. told ABC News after the shooting, “I filled out the consent form to allow my son to go through the process that the Illinois State Police have in place for an individual to obtain a FOID card.”
“They do background checks. Whatever that entails, I’m not exactly sure. And either you’re approved or denied, and he was approved,” he said.
“Signing a consent form to go through the process … that’s all it was,” Crimo Jr. said of his involvement. “Had I purchased guns throughout the years and given them to him in my name, that’s a different story. But he went through that whole process himself.”
Robert Crimo III has pleaded not guilty to charges including murder and attempted murder.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden said the U.S. “acted out of an abundance of caution” when shooting down three unidentified aerial objects flying over North American airspace this past weekend.
While officials are still working to recover the objects and assess them, Biden said nothing currently suggests they were related to China’s surveillance program or that they were surveillance objects from other countries.
“But make no mistake, if any object presents a threat to the safety and security of the American people, I will take it down,” Biden said.
On the Chinese surveillance balloon, Biden added: “I make no apologies for taking down that balloon.”
The president’s remarks on Thursday were the first time he’s commented extensively on the issue, coming more than two weeks after the Chinese spy balloon was spotted over Montana.
The balloon that traversed the continental U.S. between Jan. 28 and Feb. 4 added tension to the already fraught U.S.-China relationship. Biden was criticized by Republicans for not taking action to shoot the balloon down earlier, though he said he ordered it be taken down as soon as possible but his military advisers said it was too risky to do over land.
Since then, three unidentified aerial objects were downed by the U.S. military over three successive days — one over Alaska, one over Canada and the third over Lake Huron in Michigan.
The administration has yet to confirm what those objects were or where they came from, though White House spokesperson John Kirby said earlier this week a “leading explanation” within the intelligence community is that the objects may have been for commercial or benign use.
Biden echoed that sentiment Thursday, saying while they still don’t know for sure the objects were “most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions” for weather purposes or scientific research.
An interagency review has been underway to study broader policy implications for detecting and analyzing unidentified aerial objects that pose either safety or security risks.
“They are continuing to work intensively to put forward parameters … that work is continuing but you will hear from the president and he will give an update on what has occurred over the last several days,” White House press secretary Jean-Pierre said Thursday of the interagency review. She had previously said their work was expected to be done by the end of the week.
Brett Michaels is revisiting his 2001 salute to his band. The Poison frontman is set to reissue a deluxe version of Show Me Your Hits – A Salute To Poison, which had him revisiting and reimagining Poison’s biggest hits.
The new release will feature remastered audio, along with new mixes of songs like “Nothin’ But A Good Time,” “Fallen Angel” and “Every Rose Has Its Thorn,” as well as new artwork.
The album is also being released on vinyl for the first time with a limited edition purple and black splatter LP.
Show Me Your Hits – A Salute To Poison is available for preorder now.
Here’s the Show Me Your Hits – A Salute To Poison track list:
“Nothin’ But A Good Time”
“Fallen Angel”
“Every Rose Has Its Thorn”
“Look What The Cat Dragged In”
“Talk Dirty To Me”
“Something To Believe In”
“I Want Action”
“Unskinny Bop”
“Stand”
“So Tell Me Why”
“Doin’ As I Seen On My TV”
FILE, photo — aviation-images.com/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. intercepted Russian aircraft flying off Alaska in international airspace as they approached an identification zone for two straight days this week, according to officials.
Planes are required to identify themselves when they approach the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone, or ADIZ. If they don’t, U.S. aircraft are launched to check on them.
The Alaskan Region of North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, announced on Thursday an incident that took place on Feb. 14 in which U.S. Air Force F-35s intercepted four Russian aircraft, including two Tu-95 bombers. The U.S. announced on Tuesday it had intercepted two Russian Tupolev Tu-95MS strategic bombers on “a seven-hour flight over neutral waters of the Chukchi Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk” on Feb. 13.
Neither time did the Russian aircraft enter the U.S. or Canadian airspace, according to officials.
“This Russian activity near the North American ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat, nor is the activity seen as provocative,” NORAD said in a statement Thursday.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — Tesla is recalling up to 362,758 cars equipped with its Full Self-Driving Beta software or pending installation over concerns it can increase the risk of a crash, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced Thursday.
“The FSD Beta system may allow the vehicle to act unsafe around intersections, such as traveling straight through an intersection while in a turn-only lane, entering a stop sign-controlled intersection without coming to a complete stop, or proceeding into an intersection during a steady yellow traffic signal without due caution,” the agency said.
The recall will affect some Model S, Model X, Model 3 and Model Y vehicles. Tesla will offer a software update free of charge to customers, the agency said.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(ATLANTA) — Nearly half of kids ages 1 to 5 are not eating a daily vegetable and nearly one-third are not eating a daily fruit, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
At the same time, the majority of kids — 57% — in that age range reported drinking at least one added-sugar beverage per week, according to the CDC, which analyzed data from the 2021 National Survey of Children’s Health, which included more than 18,000 children.
Current dietary guidelines for kids ages 1 to 5 recommend 1/2 to 2 cups each of vegetables and fruits per day depending on age and caloric needs.
The CDC recommends that children younger than 2 not consume any added sugars.
For children older than 2, the recommendation is that added sugars contribute less than 10% of total calories consumed.
“When kids are limiting or reducing beverages with added sugar, that can have some significant health impacts,” Heather Hamner, lead study author and senior health scientist in the CDC’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity, told ABC News. “Those are linked to cavities and can be linked to later obesity.”
The new CDC data on what kids are consuming comes as obesity remains on the rise in the U.S., including among children.
One in 5 U.S. children and teens are living with obesity, according to the CDC. Obesity is a serious condition that, if left untreated, can lead to long-term health problems.
Children with obesity are at a higher risk for diseases such as Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, obstructive sleep apnea, and depression.
The study found that southern states such as Louisiana and Mississippi had higher proportions of children who did not eat a daily vegetable but drank a sugary drink weekly compared to northern states such as Vermont and Maine.
The statistics also varied by race, age and income, according to the study.
The percentage of children who did not eat a daily fruit or vegetable was higher among Black children as well as those living in homes with “limited food sufficiency,” and in kids ages 2 to 5.
“This is an opportunity for states to think about the programs and the policies that they have and how they can improve those or continue those supports for … early childhood nutrition,” Hamner said, adding, “Really thinking about where children live, learn, and play.”
Earlier this year, the American Academy of Pediatrics released new guidelines on treating childhood obesity.
The guidelines recommend children be proactively evaluated and treated for obesity, noting that treatments, including medications and weight loss surgery, can be effective and can help reduce the risk of developing other health conditions.
The AAP also said childhood obesity is a disease with genetic, social and environmental factors — not something caused by individual choices — and that it shouldn’t be stigmatized by health care providers.
Pediatricians should screen children with obesity for conditions including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and depression at routine checkups, the AAP said in the new guidelines.
What parents can do to help kids
In its new guidelines, the AAP called for policy changes that could help reduce racial disparities in childhood obesity, including improving access to healthy foods and treatments for groups at greatest risk.
The organization said parents should talk to their child’s pediatrician to make any additional health and lifestyle changes, and can model and encourage healthy eating and physical activity for their children.
Cooking with children can make them excited about healthy eating. Preparing meals with vegetables, fruits, and grains can provide a balanced diet. Children should be encouraged to stay active daily or get involved in sports.
Hamner, the author of the CDC study, said she recommends that parents offer a fruit and a vegetable at every meal and snack, starting from an early age.
Parents should also feel encouraged to continue offering fruits and vegetables, even if kids don’t like them initially.
“A lot of times we hear that there’s picky eating,” she said. “But we also have research that suggests that kids can take up to 10 or more times to try a food before they really learn to accept it.”
Hamner said parents should also keep in mind that fresh is not the only option to offer kids, explaining, “Frozen and canned vegetables are a good source of nutrients and vitamins.”
Describing the importance of giving kids fruits and vegetables, Hamner added, “We know that nutrient-dense foods like fruits and vegetables can help support their growth and development and lay the foundation for later dietary behaviors.”
Mallory Rowley is a fourth-year medical student and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.
Karra Maniér, MD, and Nicole McLean MD, MPH, both members of the ABC News Medical Unit, also contributed to this report.
