We’re glad to see Michele Obama joining the fight for children’s health. Check out Let’s Move, Mrs. Obama’s initiative for healthier eating and more moving for families and children. Some of the information does not align with Marilu’s Total Health Makeover® – that dairy lobby has a strong foothold in all the government recommendations. So read critically, as always.

One idea we like – become an activist for getting kids to move more. That’s your own children and all the children in your community. (It does take a village.)

Children 8-18 spend 7.5 hours a day (on average) as passive recipients of entertainment. That includes televsion, music, video games, cell phones, and movies. We need to work harder at giving our kids safe, supervised places to play, and then we need to make sure they use them.

Questions to ask yourself…

• Is your child’s after-school/childcare program activity-based? Or do the kids watch videos?
• Does your child’s school have recess? Physical education classes more than 30 minutes a week?
• Does your community have children’s sports programs? Is financial assistance available so every child can participate?
• Does the community have safe parks and playgrounds?
• Are there safe walking and biking routes to all schools? Are kids encouraged to walk or bike to school?
• Is your family time focused on the screen, or do you make the effort to get up and move as a family?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 at 10:14 am and is filed under Articles - Health, Family friendly activities, food, tips, Healthy Kids. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.