Continue+Let's+Move

Let’s Move have created new programs and activities to help the process of becoming healthier and more active easier and possible. “__Let’s Move! Salad Bars to Schools__delivers nearly 1,000 salad bars to schools” giving students the option to choose healthier lunches (Salvatore). The campaign has gotten kitchen equipment companies to donate demonstration kits for a 1,000 chefs working with the schools to convince children that healthful food is better than junk food”( Salvatore). It also has gotten “Kraft Foods, Campbell Soup Company, and Kellogg Company to agree to cut 1 trillion product calories by the end of 2012” (Salvatore). The campaign has tried to change gym classes in schools so they can become more active and are even trying to “create more intramural sports” for kids after school so those who may not play sports for the school itself can play sports outside of the school and stay active(Tennant). The campaign has already gotten a lot of things accomplished and will succeed in creating a healthier nation.

Children are often influenced by others, so Let’s Move is using this to inform kids about healthy living. “Let’s Move! has teamed up with sports organizations, including the National Football League and Major League Baseball, to develop public service announcements to motivate kids who may see professional athletes as role models”(Tennant). Since kids spend most of their time watching television, Michelle Obama is using television to get her message across to the children. Academic lecturer of business and environment, Michael Tennant, explains how Let’s Move has gotten Disney to help spread the message by having “at least one episode of each [Disney Channel] series currently in production… centered on a healthy lifestyle theme”. Obama herself also appears in commercials encouraging kids to become healthier and showing them fun ways to do so.

Though it may be hard to believe, there are some who oppose the campaign. They criticize her efforts and claim that Michelle Obama is trying to “employ the federal government as our national nanny” and that she is bullying “Americans into shape” (Tennant). I’m not the only one who disagrees with that; others also feel her messages are “in a nonconfrontational tone that dispels any notion she’s out to become the nation’s nutrition nanny” (Benac). Mrs. Obama is only trying to raise awareness and provide different things to help stop the increasing obesity rate; she’s not trying to control the nation. She has set limits to her efforts and some feel she should instead do more.

As the article //Let’s Move! Can It Make Kids Healthier?// states, Let’s Move is “educating and empowering parents, providing more-healthful foods in schools, increasing access to healthful foods in underserved neighborhoods and encouraging more physical activity”. Larry Soler, CEO of Partnership for a Healthier America says, “We’ve started to see some data showing there’s a leveling off of the obesity problem, that it’s not [continuing to] get worse” because of the campaign(Khadaroo). “Health experts suggest that Let’s Move! is on the right track” to creating a healthier generation (Ogilvie). I too believe that it’s on the right track. From all the accomplishments the campaign have made so far, I can tell that the campaign is succeeding in it’s task in making the children of this generation healthy, active and strong leaders for our future. media type="youtube" key="PyxcTU_yJm8" width="364" height="269" align="center"

Previous <<<

Back to Main Page