Time in front of the TV set was reduced. Note that low-fat flavored milk is not the answer: It contains too much sugar. Sometimes it is necessary to do this in stages-going down to 2 percent milk, then 1 percent. While 100 percent orange juice, for example, is better than a soft drink, it is still filled with sugar and calories. You can always sweeten it with a dash of orange or apple juice.) Don’t keep sugary soft drinks in the house, and don’t replace them with sports drinks, sweetened ice teas, energy drinks, or fruit juice drinks, either. Keep that cold and available for soda-craving kids who balk at plain water. (I have a 12-year-old grandchild who prefers club soda, like her grandmother. Keep chilled water in a covered pitcher, preferably glass, always ready in the refrigerator. These are the changes Michelle Obama made at home-before moving to DC, by the way-and some suggestions on how to implement them in your house: And though her initiative to combat childhood obesity includes some big ideas and ambitious solutions, the steps that she took in her own household seem within reach of most American families. "We started seeing the effects, the positive effects, of just some minor changes within months," she said when unveiling Let's Move earlier this month. Obama become more involved in her family's eating habits and initiated changes that may seem small, but that added up to noticeable results. While not completely eliminating cookies and ice cream or burgers and fries-part of the fun of childhood, as she's called them-Mrs. She calls the changes minor and has said, "It's not about being 100 percent perfect 100 percent of the time. THE DETAILS: Over time, the first lady has also talked about the changes she made to make her children healthier and, one assumes, thinner, though there are no before and after pictures available. "We always think that only happens to someone else's kid," she said. Obama thought her children were perfect and hadn't noticed any unhealthy changes, let alone that they were in danger of becoming obese. Speaking at a school in Alexandria, VA, in January, she said her family pediatrician "kind of waved the red flag for me, as a mother, and basically cautioned me that I had to take a look at my own children's BMI." (Credit Michelle Obama with making BMI, body mass index, a household term.) Like any parent, she said, Mrs. Obama is much more direct as she promotes her childhood-obesity initiative, Let's Move. From the day she gave her first interview last March about the vegetable garden she was about to plant on the White House south lawn, the first lady has always talked about a rude awakening she received from her daughters’ pediatrician.Īs the person who interviewed her that day, I'm always struck by how delicately she handled the subject: “It was our pediatrician who kind of said, you may want to, you know, think about diet and nutrition issues.”
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