Last night I sat and watched Shaq’s Big Challenge. I had no idea what it was going to be about but I am glad that I watched the full hour. Shaq wanted to get children fit and wage a battle against childhood obesity in the state of Florida. He took six kids that where in the morbidly obese range and worked with them to teach them exercise and eating healthy.
The pilot program he introduced to the kids and their parents was not only to help the kids out but to show the progress to the governor of Florida to put a program like it in schools across the state.
What I liked the most about this reality program in relation to all the others out today is that it had a life changing affect on more than just the contestants and there families. This challenge is not a game and there is no prize money up for grabs and no humiliating stunts. The goal of making sure our children are as healthy as possible is something that millions of family can relate to.
There where three obstacles that Shaq’s program faced:
- Incorporating physical exercise into the daily routine in the school.
- Getting the kids to accept the changes on the lunch menu
- Helping the kids score high on the President’s Fitness Challenge.
In the beginning the school was open to allowing twenty minutes of class time to be devoted to exercise then went back on it saying that state law mandated that they couldn’t give up that time. The next obstacle was in the lunch menu. The chef tried to offer healthy choices to the kids with a low budget of one dollar per student per plate. The kids rejected the vegetable choices. The last area was the President’s Challenge. The kids made improvements, but the numbers were not what Shaq wanted to take to the governor.
The school principal helped Shaq out by introducing a program that would allow the program to be incorporated into the regular school day. She called it Shaq’s Wellness Wheel. The kids would learn how to cook healthy in home economics, be taught about health and nutrition, and learn how to exercise to properly burn calories. With the program being incorporated into the normal school day there would be no conflict with other school district rules.
As the show end, the team that Shaq put together decided that they needed more time to get the numbers that they wanted. The program was extended another four months. The kids and parents where excited that the program was going to continue, and they would be able to help others with the “Bring a friend” idea that one of the participants came up with. What started off as a challenge involving six children had grown to over fifty kids.
Shaq you get two thumbs up from me on this program. I hope that I can Google Shaq’s Wellness Wheel later this year and find out that it has been adopted across the state of Florida and is about to be introduced to congress for consideration.
