First lady Michelle Obama has been a busy woman this week. She’s been making the talk show rounds as she promotes Let’s Move, a campaign is designed to end childhood obesity by teaching children about fitness and healthy eating.
As the first lady wraps up her week, she will be a guest on the Ellen show today alongside Booty Barre creator and fitness expert Tracey Mallett.
Mallett and Mrs. Obama invite 40 children to the stage to demonstrate exercises to keep them moving and excited about good health. Mallett led the children of Whitney Elementary through a fun workout the kids loved. In an email from Mallett, she described the episode as “an amazing experience.” See it now, and try it with your own kids!
As I sat around the dinner table with my family recently, my son went into great detail about this food he had at school. He couldn’t remember the name, but he said it was kind of like a raw potato and also similar to an apple. He explained how they were given fresh lime to squeeze on it as a flavor enhancer. Totally perplexed, I got up to get the calendar from school to learn he had been sampling jicama.Jicama is just one of the many fruits and vegetables he and his peers are eating as part of the USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program.
The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) began through the Farm and Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002. The purpose was to determine the best ways to get more fruit and vegetables consumed in the schools. The program was authorized as a pilot in only 4 states, but the popularity of the program added new states almost every year and today all 50 states are participating. The FFVP is provided to select schools through grants administered through the State Departments of Education. My son’s school, College Hill Elementary in Wichita, KS was fortunate enough to receive the grant this year. They have been seeing fantastic results.
It’s no secret that a strong battle is being fought in order to increase the quality of our school lunches and to teach our children what healthy eating looks like. As the elementary students at College Hill have been introduced to these fruits and vegetables, good results have been shown.
“I think most of the staff has been pleasantly surprised at how willingly the kids have at least tasted everything. I’m sure that we are giving quite a few of these kids an experience with some types of foods that they would never have in their lifetime,” said Karla Stenzel, physical education teacher and the facilitator of the FFVP. Read Full Post >
For people so active in helping the children of the world, it seems Brad Pitt and long-time partner Angelina Jolie aren’t making the health of their own a priority.
In an interview on CBS Sunday Morning that aired today, Brad opened up about his family, saying he “couldn’t imagine life without any of them.” He also shared that the couple’s brood of six children travels the world with them, wherever their gigs take them. Because of the often harried schedule, not to mention ushering eight people out the door, Brad admitted they turn to a pretty unhealthy breakfast and energy solution.
“Listen, I admit there’s times like, ‘We gotta get up. Get up! Here’s your shoes. Here’s your shoes. Drink this Coke. Drink this Coca Cola. Drink it all. Right now! Drink it! Drink it! Drink it! Just so we could get ‘em up and going,” Pitt said.
Coke for breakfast? Come on Brad and Angelina! That’s not good for either of you, much less six young, growing children. You may not realize it, but thefoundation is already laid. You’re showing them that making time for themselves isn’t a priority, nor is starting their day with a healthy breakfast. Hurrying out the door? Give them an apple to eat in the car (which has been found to give us more energy than a cup of coffee). Read Full Post >
While the Republican race seems to shift from candidate to candidate with each primary, it seems to be a two horse race between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. Here’s a brief look at how they compare on the complex issue of health care.
Mitt Romney on Healthcare
Mitt Romney has had to do a peculiar dance regarding health care. In his home state of Massachusetts, Romney has presided over a successful state-run health care plan, but since state-run health care is not a popular stance with the Republican base that will get him the party nomination. It’s probably the main sticking point as to why he hasn’t already shored up the nomination. Read Full Post >
It might be Friday, but we stayed in tonight. We participated in Leah Segedie’s Twitter chat, #Ashamed, to raise awareness for theGeorgia advertising campaign by Strong4Life attempting to curb the rampant childhood obesity epidemic in the state. If we’d been at the bar like everyone else celebrating TGIF it would have been standing room only. According to Leah there were 544 people tweeting on #Ashamed tonight. “I worked harder on that party than any I’ve ever done,” Leah told us shortly after the chat ended.
To show just how powerful social media is, or maybe how powerful Leah Segedie at BookieBoo and Mamavation is, this Twitter chat was organized practically over night and had a lot of interest, as that count of 544 shows. Additionally, Leah shared other stats, like 13 million impressions and 4859 tweets posted in the one-hour chat.
Leah told us she had two goals for #Ashamed. “First, to petition Strong 4 Life to take the billboards down. Second, to talk about the issue in a way that’s not shameful and gets the word out.” The public outcry over this campaign has been loud enough that some have already been taken down. The hope is that tonight’s nearly 600 voices on Twitter will remove them from the remaining areas, like Atlanta.
“Just take the damn things down,” Leah shouted. “It’s over and done with.” Read Full Post >
First lady Michelle Obama has been a busy woman this week. She’s been making the talk show rounds as she promotes Let’s Move, a campaign is designed to end childhood obesity by teaching children about fitness and healthy eating.
