Wednesday, March 7, 2012

The "Let's Move" Campaign



Have you heard/read about the Let's Move campaign that First Lady Michelle Obama is leading? This is my kind of positive initiative. And coming from a government agency! Wow, even better.

I'm very impressed with Michelle Obama for this and also one of her other campaigns that I am aware of aiding veterans, that she is leading along with Jill Biden the vice-president's wife.
Initiatives that can (hopefully) change the lives of millions of people for the better. And imagine, just imagine the potential savings in healthcare alone?

 And what an inspiration for all of us; no matter where we live.

Here in Canada, there's not much happening when it comes to promoting more physical activity and better nutrition for children. We do have a smattering of TV commercials talking about getting kids off their butts to exercise an hour a day. Some of the grocery stores are featuring more healthier snack choices for kids. Vending machines are starting to include a few better choices. Some individual school projects... Not much else that I am aware of. And so many overweight kids. Shocking and sad.

And when it comes to activity. Promoting ONE hour a day???

Oh my, how things have changed. As Michelle Obama writes here, when she (and I can relate, being in the same age range) were growing up, being physically active for HOURS a day was the norm, not the exception.

We may have been eating some junk food every day (lots of Kool-Aid, candy and hot dogs unfortunately, other norms) but burning up those calories we did. And how!

Obese kids  or anyone with diabetes or other serious health problems? Hard to remember any kids struggling with issues like that, when I was in school. The exceptions for sure. My friends and classmates were slim, full of energy and rarin' to go! Good times to remember.

And we had to be literally "dragged in" at the end of the day by our parents, especially on warm summer evenings. I can still remember my mom on the back porch around sunset time, calling us over and over to come in for the day. Finally and reluctantly, we would put away our toys and the day's adventures and head home. Usually to sleep like babies too, after all that fresh air! :<)

Now the norm for so many children seems to be: Sitting on computers, endless texting, watching too much TV, listening to Ipods...no wonder so many kids are overweight and unhealthy.And I think they miss out on so much fun too. We kept ourselves amused with very little money and no gadgets. Just a few simple toys, games, crayons... and lots of imagination was enough, back then.

  I wish Mrs. Obama so much luck with her initiative

Let's Move!!!  And not just for kids. I couldn't agree more!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

This inspired me to get up and move! I haven't gotten to my afternoon walking this week, and have been feeling bad about it. Thanks!

Mullin Avenue Workshop said...

Geraldine,
I agree with you here, it's great to see Michelle Obama's positive influence regarding this.
Do you remember the old days of Participaction, here is Canada?
That too was an excellent idea, I think.
Most of my favourite childhood memories are of playing outdoors, and as you say, we needed to be called in sometimes more than once.
I'm hoping that with more concerns over childhood obesity, parents will get the message, and limit their children's sedentary times, and then they'll get back to the joys of play!
Brenda

Joseph said...

Excellent post and campaign. And so true. We never needed to be told to "exercise" we were told to settle down at times, we were constantly on the go. And I can't remember any obese kids either.

Geraldine said...

Hi SandyL, That's great to read!

Hi Brenda, When someone like Michelle Obama gets behind an initiative, people tend to listen! So often, the campaigns front and center are focused on diseases, drug use...and not positive in every way, as this one is. I really admire Mrs.Obama for taking this on and also her work with veterans. Sounds like they are making great progress too.

Hi Joe, That commercial about the "one hour a day of activity" just blows me away, no matter how many times I see it. Imagine our parents and teachers having to tell us to "exercise" and for 1 hour a day LOL. It was so different then.

I feel like taking a brisk walk too! Happy Thursday, G :<)

Dianne said...

she does so much good, important work

I started a Tai Chi class on the 7th :)

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