Healthy Outlook Blog

Michelle Obama’s Message To Kids: “Let’s Move”

By Paula Dranov | Posted September 13 2010

Childhood Obesity, Children, education, Exercise, Fitness, Health Tips, Lifestyle, Policy

Michelle Obama doesn’t mess around. As first lady, she took on an ambitious project – combating the epidemic of childhood obesity that threatens the health of a generation of kids. We know that she practices what she preaches about eating healthy (she rounded up local grade school kids to plant the first organic garden at the White House; it was a teachable moment for the kids and the rest of us) and getting regular exercise (those arms!). And in relatively short and non-controversial order (compared to some other White House initiatives), her objective – a new national drive toward healthy eating and regular exercise – is up and running. Mrs. Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign has launched a multi-faceted program to give families and communities the tools they need to make sure that kids get the right food and exercise to help pare excess pounds and stay healthy.

“This isn’t just a policy issue for me. This is a passion. This is my mission. I am determined to work with folks across this country to change the way a generation of kids thinks about food and nutrition,” Mrs. Obama said of the Let’s Move campaign.

The Let’s Move website can help parents determine whether or not their kids are overweight or obese. It directs you to an online calculator to determine their BMI, a measurement of weight in relation to height. And it outlines how parents can start to modify kids’ diets along healthier lines – less fast food, more fruits and vegetables and low fat foods, fewer but healthier snacks. (Ditch the Cheetos; choose the carrot sticks!)

Let’s Move is also tackling the problem of school lunches in an effort to make them healthier and will encourage schools to start nutritious breakfast programs, too. For at home help on preparing healthy meals, you can check the Let’s Move website for videos featuring chefs who have visited the White House and cooked for the health-conscious Obamas. You’ll find recipes and cooking instructions.

As far as exercise is concerned, Let’s Move provides information on how families can encourage kids to get more physical activity. The goal is an hour a day of exercise, but it can be in 10-minute increments, not all at once. Note to parents: making sure kids get enough sleep is important, too. The Let’s Move website cites a recent study showing that for every extra hour of sleep kids get, the risk of being overweight or obese drops by nine percent.

Once Mrs. Obama gets the kids shaped up, maybe she can turn her attention to the rest of us. I, for one, would like my arms to look like hers!

CONNECT THE DOTS

What we used to call “baby fat” is no longer considered cute. It raises serious health risks for kids including asthma, gallstones, heart disease, high blood pressure and metabolic syndrome, a combination of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and other risks factors for heart disease.

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