Let's Move!

How can we create healthy, active lifestyles for our children?

First Lady Michelle Obama has taken this question to heart and created the Let's Move! campaign, a program that aims to solve the challenge of childhood obesity within a generation. Today nearly one in three children in America are overweight or obese, which puts these children at risk for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, asthma, and social discrimination.

The Let's Move! website includes mealtime tips, like ensuring that portions are the size of the back of the child's fist and differentiating between permission only snacks (like cookies) and snacks that children can take freely (like fresh or dried fruit). There are also exercise tips for kids, like doing jumping jacks during commercial breaks and joining a sports team. Interactive forms like the Screen Time Log help kids track the amount of time they are spending in front of the television and take their health into their own hands.

But don't just stop there--get the whole family active! Make physical activity part of family fun time. Go for family bike rides. Walk to the store or park. Start a family garden and have the kids help. Have your kids help you prepare dinner. By implementing these changes into your entire family's habits, you can help your kids lead a happier, healthier life.

Start making these changes today! As Michelle Obama says, "The physical and emotional health of an entire generation and the economic health and security of our nation is at stake."