Taking Tomorrow Back

French fries and I have had a long relationship. Those crispy ends are my favorites. So, when I get on my soap box about childhood obesity, I have to place a mirror on the front row.  It is easy to forget in the fast paced world we live in that the small convenient indulgence of a drive through combo meal can easily add 1200 calories, with 400 of those consisting of fat. I call that a nutritional fail.

What can we do to change the way we eat and live?  Start by changing the way we think about food. Have you seen what they are serving in your child’s school?  Go spend a lunch time with your child and eat what she is eating. Talk to your kids about the nutritional content of the foods they eat.

My favorite source  for nutritional information is Nutritiondata. This is a great site for everything from easy to use information to menu planning. Get support locally. If you live in Oklahoma Tulsaplay.org is  fun resource for you and your kids. Starting is easier than it sounds. It doesn’t require fad diets or extreme exercising. It just requires a commitment to get informed and a willingness to change a little at a time. Then, before you know it you will be leading your family into a healthier, happier future.

Sum- Sum- Summertime Active

“Summertime” conjures images of swimming pools, lemonade stands and tree swings, but the reality is less illuminating. With both parents working more children are spending hot summer days in air conditioned houses reclining in front of television and video games. July temperatures in my state of Oklahoma often exceed 100ºF during the day forcing families to stay indoors and out of the sun during the hottest hours.
A few years ago, realizing our family was spending the sweltering days sedentary, we invented a game we named “5-times-through.” Every day I loaded our five youngest kids in the van and took over the local park in the early hours before the sun grew too hot. The rules of the game were simple. Every person should try to move through as many of the park obstacles without touching the ground as possible; repeat 5 times. At first monkey bars were difficult and required taller brothers and sisters to help younger brothers and sisters, but in time we all could complete the course alone.  Soon we added a daily evening session, inviting neighbors and friends. Children would show up in our front yard nightly around 8pm to join in on the game, making new rules and changes as they went along.

It doesn’t matter what activity you choose. It really just boils down to starting one thing and commiting to a dialy activity that you and your kids will do. So, find a park or a sidewalk and take it over for a nightly bike parade or silly walking workshop, you might not feel like you are changing the world, but if you have changed one child’s attitude about being more active, you have influenced a generation.

The Food Revolution Will Be Televised

Childhood obesity is my new rant. So, much so that if any of my six children are in the room when the topic of childhood obesity comes up eyes start rolling and dramatic gasps and moans are the immediate reaction. I don’t care, though.  If a child were stuck in a well an entire community and a film crew would be there with prayers and ropes.

Our childhood obesity crisis is serious and it affects many children across America, the fattest nation on the earth. Where are the film crews? Thanks to people like the very hunky Jamie Oliver the Food Revolution will be televised.

Jamie’s status has brought celebrity attention as well as increasing interest to America’s nutrition problem.  Here is what he has to say: “I believe that every child in America has the right to fresh, nutritious school meals, and that every family deserves real, honest, wholesome food. Too many people are being affected by what they eat. It’s time for a national revolution. America needs to stand up for better food!

You live in an amazing country full of inspirational people and you have the power to change things. With your help, we can get better food into homes, schools and communities all over America and give your kids a better future. Sign the petition to save America’s cooking skills and improve school food. It could be the most important thing you ever do for your family.”

Join Jamie and other’s all across the nation in making a healthier future for our children. The future begins today.

Harlem Children’s Zone

I don’t know all the workings of this operation, but I know it is working. Harlem Children’s Zone caught my eye on an AMEX commercial. Every community needs to be looking around and finding what works and studying it. Every community has different needs. Each neighborhood has different strengths and weaknesses. What is it that you and your community will do to change right where you live for the better? No complaining, just action.

LEARN MORE HERE! -This is a talk Geoffrey Canada did @ Harvard.

Read to a child

I found this book online the other day. I have to admit I did the voices when I read it. I knew it by heart from hours and hours of practice while my daughter sat on my lap and giggled with excitement anticipating the next page. That little girl is twenty-six now and has a son of her own. I think I will read it to him and do Grover’s voice again.

Find a book. Make it your favorite and read to a child over and over again.

America’s Obesity Crisis

Around 1/3 of our nation’s children are obese, but in my state of Oklahoma we tip the scales a little higher. That is twice as high as it was 20 years ago. Obesity is the number one cause of diabetes and heart disease in adults in America today.
Where will our children be twenty years from now?

A glimpse of what can be…because it is.

This video from the students of Booker T. Washington in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is as much of a challenge to other school systems, as it is a testament of the impact of great educators and passionate students.