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The Obama campaign against childhood obesity comes at a time when interest in fresh, healthy food is already on the rise.
RODALE NEWS, WASHINGTON, DC—When First Lady Michelle Obama unveiled Let's Move, her plan to reduce childhood obesity, last week, she already understood that foodies and nutritionists weren't the only ones interested in healthy food.
"I think she's got very good political antennae," says Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma (The Penguin Press, 2006) and Food Rules: An Eater's Manual (The Penguin Press, 2009). "There is concern among parents about the dietary health of kids, and it is not being addressed by industry. And there is growing recognition that the cost of health care is tied to dietary health."
THE DETAILS: What Mrs. Obama is undertaking, says David Kessler, MD, former Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and author of The End of Overeating (Rodale, 2009), "is as hard as any public-health initiative we've seen." The challenge, he says, is finding ways to get widespread involvement, rather than imposing mandates from above. "This empowers that school principal, and that cook in the school cafeteria, to think in different ways. It starts to create certain social norms." In his book, Dr. Kessler makes the case that social norms and our inborn food cravings make it extremely difficult for us to build healthy eating habits. Michelle Obama's involvement and leadership could trigger the needed shift in what "normal" means for America's eating patterns. "There is nothing comparable when the president or first lady gets the ball rolling, and the time is right, the message is clear," he says. "It's a big deal."
Marian Burros reports on the First Lady's antiobesity campaign:
Your Family Can Lose Weight on the Michelle Obama Plan
Can Michelle Obama Shrink America's Waistlines?
White House Unveils Huge Solutions for America's Weighty Problem
The timing for that big deal may be as right as it ever was. Pollan sees evidence that a higher consciousness around food issues has already been spreading into mainstream media. "It's fodder for Oprah, fodder for the morning shows, fodder for comedians," he said. He should know: He was a guest on Oprah to talk about how oversweetened, oversalted, over-caloried cheap food is making kids fat. "It was some sort of watershed when Oprah had me on her show," Pollan notes.
In fact, there is evidence everywhere that many Americans are sick of the status quo and have been fighting, one city at a time—sometimes just one school at a time or even one family at a time—to change how they respond to what industrial agriculture produces in this county. Certainly there are plenty of food-related challenges facing America families, including recalls of beef, chicken, and greens contaminated with harmful bacteria; high prices for fruits and vegetables and low prices for junk food; sodas in school vending machines and potato chips in the lunch line; the barrage of advertising for highly sugared, fatty foods aimed at children; and half-truths on food packaging labels. Not to mention their legislators' inability to do, or fear of doing, something to help them.
Read on to see the surprising evidence that America is rethinking its eating habits.
Things are getting better
Long ago, the village that's supposed to help raise the children was my worst enemy when teaching good food habits to my kids.
When they were very young, they loved leafy greens and oatmeal without sweetener. Taste is very trainable. People in restaurants would turn their heads to "watch the little kids eat and love their salads."
Then came pre-school, elementary school teachers, and PTA ladies who believed in emotionally rewarding kids with commercial candy, soda pop and commercial ice cream. A health-oriented mother was portrayed as an odd enemy of the children.
Today, schools are growing gardens. At the Center for the Micro Eco-Farming Movement, more and more niche micro farms that grow local stables and gourmet specialties are contacting us. Many find ways to include kids and families. It's been a long journey, but much has improved.
http://www.microecofarming.com
childhood obesity
Having come from a family of overweight women, I can speak from experience that this is not so cut and dried. I grew up associating certain foods with love and comfort. Keep in mind I lived on a farm with tons of fresh fruits and veggies on the table daily. Mom was not abusing me, she just wasn't aware and practiced what she was taught by her overweight mother. After the birth of my 2nd child, I started having back and foot pain upon waking each morning. I was only 30 and did not want to spend the rest of my life feeling this way. I sought help and was taught about my emotional eating and educated on the foods I was eating. I now regulate what comes into our home and what we eat when we are out of the house. Both of my girls, who are in elementary school know how to correctly read a food label and can tell you what to look for in healthy food and why they need to eat it. This is why educating the public is so important!
obese child
Ofetn parents who do this did not have the model, as you probably did, of a healthy diet. You could help her perhaps, if approached in a positive way and she was open to it. Find common foods that are healthy like fruit, cut up veggies, yogurt, peanut butter and go from there. Also dieticians at local hospitals will help with child nutrition issues and give good advice. There are good interent sites (like Dr. Sears) that have good information. I hope you can help her-I see parents at the supermarket buying Mountain Dew for 2 year olds and I wonder what they are thinking (they probably just don't know and like it themselves). Education works-thanks Michelle Obabma for tackling this big issue. I have read that we may be the first society that died from "overeating".
Childhood obesity
I just have to get this off my chest. I have an obese friend who is making her young daughter just like her. She practically force-feeds her extra food and dessert and this poor young thing is already on the way to a lifetime of obesity I am afraid. What would make a mother do this to her child? Doesn't she remember being called names by the kids in school and always getting picked last for the school sports teams? I view this as a form of child abuse. Shouldn't a parent always want better for their children? This just makes me sad.