Jerry the Blogger

You probably heard some buzz last week about First Lady Michelle Obama's new campaign to fight childhood obesity. I was glad to see such a major focus on this problem, because it threatens the healthy future of one third of American children.  

We as a society could do a lot more to help set a healthy example for kids and nurture nutritious habits now for a better future. Some of the efforts Mrs. Obama's campaign includes are:

• Encouraging kids to exercise an hour a day (parents would benefit from joining in, too!)
• Asking Congress for $10 billion over the next 10 years to help schools serve more nutritious food to students
• Working with food manufacturers to improve food labels and make them more customer-friendly (such as soda cans showing the calorie information on the front)
• Getting pediatricians to pay more attention to kids' body mass index (which helps measure body fat)
• Providing $400 million in tax breaks to grocery stores that move into areas lacking access to nutritious food
• Launching a new website, LetsMove.gov, to provide parents with healthy eating information, tools and ideas.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this new presidential initiative makes an impact across the country. I truly hope it makes a difference and gets more kids on the right track to better health.

As complicated as healthy eating and living can seem these days, I was happy to be reminded this week that some simple habits can do a lot of good for our health.

A new study in Pediatrics magazine reassured me that my wife and I are setting our kids up for a healthier life with the basics: eating more evening meals as a family, limiting their time watching TV, and getting enough sleep. These types of activities can reduce preschoolers' risk of obesity by nearly 40%.

We may not be perfect parents (who is?) and our meals aren't always 100% nutritionist-approved. But at least by eating together, and sharing our food as we talk about our days, we might be instilling some healthy values and habits in our children.

And while we don't completely ban TV in our house, the kids don't get to watch until their eyes bug out. TV is a fun treat, and we turn it off when it's time to do something else, such as play hide-n-seek or read a book.

We also prioritize sleep for our kids (though not always for ourselves), making sure they have the right environment and schedule for naps (they're still young) and getting to bed at a reasonable hour.

Knowing that we're doing some of the right things to reduce our children's risk of obesity is a good feeling. Now I'm thinking of what more we can do to help our kids be healthy and happy.

The expiration date on 30 million of our kids' school lunches is near -- at the end of this month, in fact. The Child Nutrition Act of 2004 expires on Sept. 30, five years after it went into effect.

This legislation governs how the National School Lunch Program, a federally assisted meal program, operates in public and nonprofit private schools and residential child care institutions. It provides nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to children each school day.

Now it's time to update the program, including making more healthy, fresh foods available to school children and getting rid of more of the junk food that's all too readily available. The reauthorization should also help make healthier breakfast available to 10 million children who rely on schools for their daily morning meal (through the National School Breakfast Program).

A recent Washington Post editorial urged lawmakers to get behind the act and provide the funding necessary to give kids what they need to succeed. I'm all for making sure every student can have healthy meals to feed their bodies, so schools have a better shot at feeding their minds. Let's hope Congress strengthens the Child Nutrition Act soon and cooks up something healthier for America's youth.