HIGH POINT – When Roosevelt Pitt Jr. saw his young nephew struggling with childhood obesity, he did more than merely shake his head.

He cooked up a good idea – a kid-friendly character named Charles the Chef, who teaches youths about the importance of a healthy diet and an active lifestyle.

“When I saw how my nephew’s weight was getting out of control, I wondered why there were no characters out there focused only on healthy eating,” says Pitt, of Pilot Mountain. “So Charles the Chef was born out of that need to help kids overcome and avoid what my nephew was experiencing – childhood obesity.”

Pitt and his longtime friend, Mshindo Kuumba, co-created Charles the Chef and several other characters back in 2004, and since then they’ve been on a mission to spread their message of healthy eating.

Saturday morning, they’ll be featured at the YMCA Healthy Kids Day celebration at the Carl Chavis Memorial Branch YMCA.

“As childhood obesity rates continue to climb rapidly, it is important that we educate not only children, but the entire family about eating and living healthy,” says Carlvena Foster, executive director of the Carl Chavis YMCA.

Pitt and Kuumba – the author and illustrator, respectively – use their characters to make that learning process fun for children.

“We try to combine the educational components of eating healthy and warning kids about the harmful effects of childhood obesity,” Pitt says.

They begin by reading from their storybook series, “Food Adventures With Charles the Chef,” and then engage the children in a discussion about their eating habits.

That’s followed by a demonstration of physical activity – Kuumba is an accomplished professional dancer and martial artist – and then they prepare a healthy smoothie for the children to sample.

“We use that as an educational component, too,” Pitt explains. “We teach what’s in it and why ingredients are important to your health, because knowing what you are eating increases your ability to make good decisions. The smoothie has bananas, blueberries and strawberries, so we teach them what bananas give your body, what blueberries give your body and what strawberries give your body.”

The Charles the Chef presentations seem to resonate with children, according to Pitt.

“We’ve connected with something that is important to children,” he says.

“Most kids want to be smart, most boys want to be strong, and most of the children we come in contact with want to be healthy. They don’t want to be sick – who wants to be sick? So we tell them there are things they can eat to strengthen their muscles. Blueberries bring nutrients to the brain. Bananas give us potassium and vitamin C.”

Knowledge is the key, Pitt says.

“The whole idea is to instill and teach them in a short amount of time that food has a purpose – to comfort us and to keep us healthy – but you have to know where to find the right foods and how they can help,” he says. “And that’s something even adults can embrace.”