America's staggering economy and our childhood obesity epidemic share a number of things in common starting with the fact that in both cases procrastination only serves to make the problem worse. Procrastination allows the cancer to spread and in the wake of the recent holiday President Obama took action on the economy. He applied a tourniquet in order to stop the bleeding. He jolted the heart in order to keep it beating, and he moved this nation from talking about it, to doing something about the problem. Whether you like what he did or not, he took action!
In this case the moves had to be big and bold because a hodgepodge of band-aids and patchwork solutions didn't stand a snowball's chance in Honolulu. In short, when it comes to the economy we finally took bold action. In the case of childhood obesity we have not.
Without a Big and Bold Plan...
Realistically speaking we've been debating, researching, and wringing our hands over childhood obesity for at least a decade now. But after spending many billions of dollars and passively standing by while millions of young lives are being washed down the greasy drain, all we have to show for it is a patchwork of band-aids, a hodgepodge of semi-interventions that the childhood obesity monster laughs at, and spits on, as he continues his attack on our nation's kids.
Like the economy, without a big, bold, and coherent antidote that we the people can understand and rally behind, millions of our kids will lose their battle with childhood obesity.
Where's the Vince Lombardi...
At this juncture I ask, where's the US Surgeon General who not only prioritizes the problem, but adds "And here's the actions we need to take in order to turn the tide on childhood obesity." Where's the Congressman who's willing to risk his own political capital, stand up in the face of the continually babbling experts and say "If we take these actions we'll defeat childhood obesity in a predictable amount of time." Where's the Lee Iacocca, the Vince Lombardi, the Jack Kennedy, the ML King, the Proverbial People Mover who can move us from wallowing in procrastination, to ACTION against childhood obesity,?
The Difference Between Winning and Losing
Controversial marketing guru Dan Kennedy contends that the difference between the winners and the losers in this life is the ability (or the lack of ability) to take action. It's true for our nation's economy and it's equally true for childhood obesity. In both cases it's time to stop talking and to do something about the problem...now!
Rick Osbourne spent 17 years as a physical educator and coach. He currently serves as Executive Director of Operation Pull Your Own Weight, (http://www.pullyourownweight.net) an informational website whose claim to fame is a strategy that motivates kids to naturally immunize themselves against obesity for life. Osbourne is also a public speaker, and his book "Operation Pull Your Own Weight: A Radically Simple Solution to Childhood Obesity," (on Amazon) shows parents and educators how to motivate their kids to eat better, exercise more, and to naturally immunize themselves against obesity for life. Osbourne a can be reached at Osbourne.rick@gmail.com
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