I have been working at CNN for six years, and I am delighted that this international network has let me report on HIV/AIDS every single year. From our documentary "RU+," to the special "House Call" airing this weekend, I have tried my level best to ensure the news about this infectious disease stays on the radar screen of Americans and everyone around the world.

It has not always been easy. I was told that because of the denial surrounding HIV, people were more likely to turn the channel. Even more reason, I said, to do these important stories. And, so I have been able to travel to Bangkok and Barcelona to cover international AIDS conferences. I traveled around the United States marveling at the development of new drug cocktails but also reporting on how expensive and inaccessible they sometimes were. I was in Kenya to bring the story of a prostitute who was mysteriously immune to HIV. Scientist probed and prodded looking for the cure deep in her body. In that case, they walked away empty-handed.

Another more nuanced point is that, in some ways, we have become the victims of our own success. Therapies have improved to the point where a person infected with the virus can live a normal life span. That good news led to a resurgence of high-risk behavior a few years ago, especially among young people so confident they could rely on pills if they ever became infected. There is even a test now that can pretty reliably tell you if you are infected within 60 seconds.

Again, these have been some very positive developments, but I wonder if as a result, people don't care about HIV/AIDS as much as they used to. I used to hear about charity runs and fund raisers along with a smattering of public service announcements, but they seem to have all but vanished. The thing I found most interesting was a recent accounting of the number of AIDS cases worldwide. If you glossed over the headlines recently, you may have heard that the number of HIV/AIDS cases dropped by more than 6 million during the past year alone. If you look a little more closely, you will find most of that drop was on paper alone. It was simply due to revised numbers showing that while the worldwide cases reached 39.5 million last year, there are 33.2 million this year. Keep in mind that although that decline is due mainly to number re-jiggering, it is safe to say the AIDS pandemic is starting to lose steam. Finally.

I have had a few long talks with Bono about this very issue. He always reminds me to "also tell people the good stories about HIV," and to show people how they are making a difference. So, on World AIDS Day, we should feel better about where we are with respect to this fight. But, still, we have a lot of work to do.

Simply keeping people interested and compassionate about this issue is a good start and I am eager to hear if you have any thoughts on how to do that.

Programming note: World AIDS Day is Saturday. Watch for special coverage this weekend on "House Call" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta at 8:30 a.m. ET

Brandy Cruthird started Fit Kidz to help make up for lost PE classes

Brandy Cruthird is an infectious person to be around. Whether she's doing the "Slide," pumping iron or practicing a few boxing moves, she makes you want to get up and get going. And that's her goal. A former college basketball player, Cruthird is now a fitness expert who runs her own gym, Body by Brandy, in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston. Geared for family fitness, the gym is open to all age groups. But Cruthird realized early on that a lot of kids who needed physical activity weren't getting it because their families couldn't afford a gym and PE classes in many schools were non-existent. That's why she started her Fit Kidz program

Along with Children's Hospital Boston and Blue Cross/Blue Shield, she set up a program where kids (mostly from the inner city) are sent to the gym with a doctor's prescription. They're usually children who are overweight or are on the verge of becoming obese. The youngsters visit the gym free of charge and they participate in all kinds of activities, such as dancing, rock climbing and weight training. The purpose is to get kids active and set them up for healthier lives as adults.

According to the CDC, approximately 17 percent of children in this country are obese. And more than a third of those kids are living in the inner cities. Since many urban schools don't have the money to afford PE classes, city kids are left with dilapidated sandlots and basketball courts for their exercise. And most of the times, these facilities are located in dangerous neighborhoods. Many of these children end up at home, sitting in front of a TV set or a video game. That's unfortunate, because most kids need at least 30 minutes of exercise each day to stay fit.

Cruthird wants that to change and hopes she can expand her Fit Kidz program to other gyms across Massachusetts. She's psyched about the results, saying she's seen kids "lose weight...BMIs go down...When you see a child walk in and his head is down...now (his) head is up, shoulders are back and he's feeling good about himself...we can't buy that feel-good feeling."
Sounds like a positive start for a fit and productive future.

Do you know of inner city programs in your area that are helping kids? Tell us about them.

Programming note: For more on Brandy Cruthird and her Fit Kidz campaign, watch Dr. Sanjay Gupta's Fit Nation report on American Morning Friday 6a to 9a ET

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, overall obesity levels among adults have not increased in the past few years. They're quick to say that the numbers are still very high -- about 34 percent of us, or close to 72 million people! (Full Story)

Could it be that in the last two years, CNN's Fit Nation campaign contributed to the stalling out of these numbers? Maybe it was the Fit Nation Challenge? Or maybe it was our Fit Nation Summit with former President Clinton two weeks ago? Yeah, that's it! Sure!

OK, those were just shameless plugs, but the truth is, it's not so far-fetched to think that programs such as Fit Nation have contributed to obesity awareness and maybe even helped reduce the problem.

It's true that there's still a long way to go. For example, more than half of black and Hispanic women ages 40-59 are obese, compared with 39 percent of non-Hispanic white women, the CDC noted. We have to figure out how to close that gap.

As we've worked on Fit Nation over the past two years, I have seen a few recurring themes as we crossed the country.

1) Education -- Did you know that a tablespoon of ketchup has more sugar than an ounce of soda? You may not eat 12 tablespoons of ketchup in one sitting, but the calories, and the sugar will add up. Educating people on how to eat well and exercise, on what tests their doctors should be doing to check for high cholesterol and high blood pressure, and on what they should be teaching their children is essential in the fight against obesity.

2) Awareness -- Did you know that obesity-related disease is the second-highest preventable cause of death in Americans? Second only to smoking? As President Clinton has said over and over again in his public campaign to reduce childhood obesity: "Overweight and obesity threaten to make this generation of children the first to live shorter lifespans than their parents." Did you catch that?? Despite all of the medical advances we've made over the last 20 years, obesity may cause our children's life spans to DECREASE.

3) Responsibility/Accountability -- It is a fact that high-fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils are in many of the foods we eat. Parents and schools must take responsibility for ensuring that children are eating healthier foods. Political leaders must take responsibility for holding food manufacturers accountable for what they put into foods; and food manufacturers and providers must take responsibility for serving their customers healthy foods.

4) Innovation -- Despite the progress, there are still close to 200 million American adults who are overweight or obese, and we must find innovative ways to help get American moving and eating right. We've seen some incredible programs around the country:

Marathon Kids is a great example. By encouraging kids to run a marathon over the course of six months and log their progress, Kay Morris is making change.

LaDonna Redmond is building urban farmsites in some of the most dangerous areas of Chicago, where guns and drugs are more available than fruits and vegetables. She is making change.

Todd Sisneros, our Fit Nation Contest winner from 2006, is a PE teacher who saw that his students were too sedentary. With just a home video camera, he made an exercise DVD for every one of his students. Todd is making change.

Kaboom, an organization we plan to work with in 2008 and beyond is building playgrounds in underserved areas across the country. By building safe playspaces "within walking distance of every child in America," Kaboom is making change.

President Clinton, the American Heart Association and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation came together and formed The Alliance for a Healthier Generation. They are working on several projects including plans to get healthier food in schools. They are making change.

And our friends at Cartoon Network with their "Get Animated" program are helping to bring recess back into schools across the country, and to get kids more active, more of the time. They are making change.

You may think I'm overstating it, but the truth is, all of these solutions, along with countless others I have not mentioned, are helping to stop obesity in its tracks. I can only hope Fit Nation has had a small part in that.

What are your thoughts? My colleague Val Willingham and I have been blogging extensively on this topic. Has that helped you make any change?

My daughter didn't come home for Thanksgiving this year. A junior at Syracuse, this was the first time she was away from our house on a major holiday. She decided to spend it with a boy she's known a few months and took off for Boston. She had turkey, cranberries and pumpkin pie with a family I don't even know. To say I was upset is an understatement. Since she's my only child, the blow was pretty tough.

Psychologists will tell me however, that actions like this are age appropriate, and that I shouldn't take it so hard. Teenagers and kids of college age often don't think before they do. You can have a straight "A" student one minute, who's loving and kind and thoughtful and in the next instant, a child who seems not to care at all about others' feelings.

The experts say it has to do with brain development. Seems that after the age of 13, the brain in a young adult outwardly looks just like a brain of someone in his or her late 20s, but it doesn't process information as well. The part of the brain that helps us make logical and rational decisions is just developing in a teen and usually it's not fully functional until the early to mid-20s. Since that part of the brain is still not mature, it can't handle stress and decision-making as well as a full-grown adult brain. It overloads. That can lead to judgments that an adult brain might not make.

Have you ever wondered about your teens and why they do the things they do? How one moment they can recite the Gettysburg Address backwards and the next minute they can't even put on clean clothes? Scientists say the brain is to blame.

I have a friend whose daughter is a freshman at Emory University, one of the finest educational institutions in the country. She's bright, talented and a great student. Last month, she needed to fax a document to her father for him to sign. Her dad gave her his number at work and waited for her to send the fax. After an hour, he called and asked why he had not received it. She said she was in the media room in her dorm and she couldn't get the fax to work, even though the light was working. After talking to her for a few minutes, it became apparent that his daughter wasn't using the fax machine, she was making copies.

That's a funny story, and after my Thanksgiving, I can relate.

But many times teens make choices that have long-term and far-reaching consequences: heavy drinking, smoking, taking drugs, having unprotected sex and even thinking of suicide. The teenage brain, although underdeveloped, is also a complex mish-mash of anxiety and confusion. Because of its complexity, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh are now to trying to map how the teen brain functions. They hope by pinpointing some of the irregularities in the young brain, they can prevent some of these potentially damaging behaviors from ever taking place.

As for my daughter, I assume she's back at Syracuse. I am still hurt by her choice to spend Thanksgiving away from her family. But I won't stay angry long. I understand this is a time for her to grow. I love her.

But next year, she better be eating green bean casserole at our house.

How do you cope when your children's actions don't match your parental expectations?