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3 Ways Parents Can Use Michelle Obama’s Experience to Fight Child Obesity

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Last year my co-worker told me that because she was inpired by my healthy eating habits and recipes, she made a few changes in her eating habits. She cut down on soft drinks and cold cut sandwiches. Instead she cooked dinners more often and brought leftovers for lunches. At the beginning, her cholesterol was almost 400 (yes, she was a walking bom!). After 6 months of minor changes, her cholesterol level went down to 300 without any medication.
I am glad that our First Lady is trying to change about school lunches but like Nancy Shute, the changes are not happenning fast enough. For many years I have been hated, disappointed and frustrated about the school lunch programs. My sons told me their schools (in city of IRVINE, California) only offered fast food. And there are no lunchroom, no chairs, no tables (IRVINE HIGH SCHOOL) for the kids to seat down to eat, most of the students have to seat on the concrete floors outside of the buildings to eat. How can we teach our kids table manners and good eating habits?

THUY of CA 1:02PM March 31, 2010

Well,am not a mom yet but one day i will be.I use to be all slim and beautiful.Now Iam living alone and ever since then,I have been practicing some bad eating habits.On some nights i would sleep on white bread + margarine and tea, both of which have got high levels of calories.For lunch i would carry with me a packed meal of abottle of SOBO, a fizzy drink and rice with either chicken or meat.Although i have not measured my BMI recently,alot of my friends have noticed that i have drastically gained eccess weight.I imagine that if I do not change now,what kind of a mother will I become,probably one who gets easy way out.After reading the above article and comments, imust admit that iam inspired to change to become abetter mom someday!

Lucy Scott 3:58AM March 16, 2010

I am a guilty parent who finds it easy to give in to my children's request for fast foods, and that it is a whole lot cheaper to but junk than healthy foods. Today both my children have gone from slim to protuding stomachs. Following in my footsteps. We all talk a good talk, that we will eat better and exercise, but that is all it is, talk. I applaud Mrs. Obama for her corage in taking a stand where most people would rather stick their heads in the sand and pretend it is not a problem. It is, it is making our kids and us sick and we need to do something now and this is a good start.

Ruth Sandy of MD 5:19PM February 23, 2010

Oh I just love her! It is great to see that this is important to her and because she has young children of her own - I really believe that she does understand. We have tried making small changes in our home for sure. Our son had severe Eczema since he was a baby as well as food allergies and sensitivities and it was so hard to find any help for him. We really had to take the bull by the horns ourselves. Thankfully, he has been dramatically helped by taking his Belly Boost chewable probiotics which he not only loves, but they have worked for him!
We have greatly reduced our intake of processed foods, fast food, artificial ingredients, high fructose corn syrup, and cleaners and chemicals in our home. We are green and we LOVE it! We have also planted a small garden that our children just love! It is so much fun to see how children actually prefer these healthy choices.

smilinggreenmom of CA 10:35AM February 22, 2010

First stuff them full of aspartame, high fructose corn syrup, bleached refined flour, soda and heaven knows what else then complain that they are unhealthy. Next they will try to sell diet pills to kids to "cure" the problem.
http://healthjournalclub.blogspot.com/

Philip of MD 4:39AM February 14, 2010

I agree with almost every point on this except putting to much stock in the "body mass index." Although it is a good idea to make sure your child is not overweight, the BMI is a fundamentally flawed measuring system. it does not take into account many simple differences between people. Simply said we need an updated measurement for telling if someone is "obese." This is a particularly a problem for young women who medically may not be overweight for their size are still told they are. This can lead to anorexia and bulimia. Just take a critical eye to the system and make sure that Just because your child is considered overweight they don't get a complex because you are so worried about it.

William of CA 4:06PM February 11, 2010

Check out the site www.beanstalkexpress. They are coming out with a great new "visual snack schedule" for kids as young as toddlers and as old as school age. Snacking is a big contributor to obesity in kids (my kids will snack all day if I didn't use this!). AND it makes it easier to sneak fruits and vegetables into their diet. It's a lifesaver for both me and my 2 kids!

Dee Pizzo of CT 3:13PM February 11, 2010

When I was raising children, we had the cooperative extension from the state college in the schools and libraries coaching parents on healthy meals on a budget.
There were sessions for parents and sessions for children. There was literature available from the extension with healthy snacks and recipes. You could order copies from the government printing office. They also had pamphlets on exercise for adults and children. I am now a grandparent and my grandson is learning to eat healthy. I am a retired Librarian wondering where the mission of the cooperative extension is these days. Are they still around. Extension join the band wagon.

Phyllis of OH 1:52PM February 11, 2010

I had the same experience as Michelle Obama a couple months ago. Two of my three children were borderline overweight. I switched their lunch and snack juice boxes to water and I gave them fresh fruit instead of cup fruit. I now give them salads more regularly and ensure veggies with each meal. Every Saturday we try something new to eat - veggie based. Chips are banned from the home. They can eat it at parties. Ice cream, cake, burger, nuggets and fries are an occasional treat. I've never allowed much weekday TV so there was no change there. One of the two children is back to a normal weight and the other is getting there. It was very hard at first and I felt like I was denying them pleasures but they have adjusted very wwell and now take pride in seeing how pleased I am with their progress.

Van of NC 1:46PM February 11, 2010

Many "whole fruit" juices have plenty of fiber and a range of antioxidants, vitamins, and other good stuff. Milk is certainly not automatically a good answer--the calcium is good, but (despite the legal language) not everyone is comfortable with the recombinant bovine growth hormone given to cows to make them produce like crazy. (The growth hormone itself does not show up in the milk, admittedly, but it's unclear what the bodies of the glandularly-overworked cows might be adding to the milk.) And there's no question that the fat in whole milk packs a greater calorie punch than the sugar in the same amount of juice. In any case, liquid displaces some space. Cutting down on liquid consumption lets kids pack that space with food, leaving them both overfed and dehydrated.
The "motion" part matters. Get involved in your neighborhood organization (or start one) to see about those sidewalks. In the meantime, find an older child who can walk with your kids to the park and the pool. Invest 5 bucks in some reflective vests or armbands. Take a family walk with your kids, after dinner, single file along the road, all wearing light colored clothing, and with the person at the back carrying a flashlight. My parents did.
Yes, drivers are an obvious risk. Leading a boring, shorter less active life due to overcaution is also a risk. We need to balance those risks--and work to reduce them both--instead of giving all of our attention to the more "in your face" risk.

Joy S. of PA 1:41PM February 11, 2010