Here’s the skinny: We’re fat.

Oh, and the news gets better. It’s December, when overindulgence is but a bag of silver-wrapped chocolate kisses away. Plus, many of us follow the black bear’s lead and hibernate.

“It’s winter in Maine,” says Auburn native Carla Marcus. “That’s the season when people sit on the couch, watch TV, eat Cheetos, gain weight and get sick.”

That litany rolls off her tongue because it’s so ingrained. We learned this seasonal lethargy from someone else. Then unwittingly, when we choose a Saturday snooze over snowshoes, kids get the message and the circle is unbroken.

Now, what if one-fifth of us were eligible for free or discounted activities at winter sports facilities from Fort Kent to Biddeford?

Marcus is executive director of a Portland-based program called WinterKids. Her quest is to reduce demand for the remote control and hand-held video games, one middle school student at a time.

Try every mountain

Through its passport program, WinterKids offers every fifth-, sixth- and seventh-grader in the state an entire winter season of free recreation: That’s 49 different mountains, cross-country ski centers and ice rinks. Possible activities include skiing, snowboarding, tubing, ice skating and snowshoeing.

Because, as Marcus puts it, “no 10-year-old is going to a mountain alone,” parents and siblings are entitled to free or discounted tickets, also. That means 20 percent of Maine’s population is eligible for the program, she said.

WinterKids is one practical solution to the most widespread public health issue of our time. Marcus cited a recent study by the Department of Public Health that deemed one-third of Maine residents either overweight or obese.

More than 64 percent of Maine children are physically active for at least three hours a day in the summer, according to Marcus. In winter, that number plummets to below 8 percent.

Maybe the traditional talk of diet and exercise falls on deaf ears because it seems impractical.

Eat healthy, children are told. That’s great, until mom and dad determine that the price of fruits and vegetables don’t fit into a food budget that’s already stretched to the max.

Go outside and play, grownups say. But with whom? Backyard football games aren’t easily organized in rural areas where the nearest neighbor kids are a mile away.

WinterKids takes cost and creativity out of the equation. And travel shouldn’t be much of an issue, either. There are participating ski centers in Rumford, Auburn, Rangeley, Jay, Bethel, Newry, Oxford, Bridgton, New Gloucester and Farmington.

Best time to apply

Most of them offer free or discounted lessons for the whole family through the passport, too.

“You can’t go to a cross-country ski center and have fun unless you know how to cross-country ski,” Marcus said.

The passport is unique to Maine. Marcus said she knows of other states that offer a day pass to students and their families, but none has programs this extensive.

WinterKids also promotes an outdoor learning curriculum through local schools. It guides teachers in nontraditional lectures that can be taught outdoors during the cold, snowy months. Through another WinterKids program, Maine natives who are world-class winter athletes promote their sport and lifestyle in the classroom.

To obtain the free passport, parents are encouraged to call their child’s school for an application or they can fill it out online at www.winterkids.org. There’s a complete list of participating centers on that site.

You may apply through April.

“But it makes sense to do it now,” said Marcus, “when there’s a whole winter of activity ahead.”

Winter? Activity? The numbers say that’s a radical departure for many of us, one that we radically need.

“This is about changing a family’s lifestyle,” Marcus said, “at a time of year when they’re usually not going to do it.”

Kalle Oakes is the Sun Journal’s columnist. His e-mail is [email protected].