Let’s Move!

First Lady, Michelle Obama, used her influence to help create and promote a program that could possibly help towards the control of the childhood obesity epidemic. The “Let’s Move” program has the First Lady, current pop starts, healthcare providers, large corporations, and most importantly, schools are supporting this cause.

Let’s Move serves by encouraging a healthier diet both in and out of school, better food labels, and increased daily physical activity for school age children.

The goal for this program is to get the entire community involved to promote a healthier lifestyle and fun physical activities. With the communities help, the programs’ goals are to encourage families and children to be active in and out of school. The Task Force on Childhood Obesity has stated that the best strategy for tackling this epidemic, is to focus on the combination of healthy food choices and physical activity together.

Let’s Move has 5 simple steps:

1. Move Everyday: A minimum of 60 minutes of physical activity per day for every single child will get them moving in the right direction. The goal is for the children to feel better, be less stressed, more attentive in school, and get a better night sleep.

2. Try a New Fruit or Veggie: There are so many fruits and vegetables available that most children have never tried. Fruits and Vegetables are vital for a healthy diet and children can have more fun eating them by trying new things.

3. Drink Lots of Water: Don’t keep soda and sugar loaded juices in the house. Help children increase the amount of water they consume. If juice needs to be purchased, then a 100% real fruit juice brand will suffice. If the children want something similar to juice, a splash of juice can be added to water.

4. Do Jumping Jacks to Break up TV Time: Statistics show that children watch two – fours hours of television per day. Being sedentary and watching TV can have many negative side effects, but those can be blocked by doing jumping jacks during a commercial break and in between shows. This same rule applies to children that spend a lot of time in front of a computer, they can do sit-ups or push-ups, and stretch to break up the time in front of the computer.

5. Help Make Dinner: Plan the daily dinner menu with the children and have them help decide and do the shopping with you. Most of the time, if it is made into a fun experience that they have control over, they will not just be learning about making healthy choices, they will be excited to do so.

It is also very important to stay active. Families have the biggest influence on a child’s lifestyle and could easily plan a fun active hobby or a daily activity that children will be excited to do when they come home from school. Schools have an amazing opportunity to both teach the children about the importance of physical activity and to also let children be active with their peers. The most effective way for schools to promote physical activity in school is through a strong P.E. program where 50% of the class time is spent doing vigorous activity. The activities should not be forced; it should always be a fun environment. As an added help to reduce childhood obesity, a community can work together and dedicate funds to build or improve recreation centers and parks. Creating safe places for children to get involved in outdoor activities and in other outdoor environmental programs.