Eat! Move! Play!

Anyone who knows me well can tell you how much I love Good Morning America (or GMA as us true friends like to call it). My love for GMA is so intense that everytime I am in NYC, I have to walk by the studio...even though I know no one is there. Last September my friends and I were in the studio audience and words can't describe how giddy I was...it was really sad!!

Anyway, today on GMA, they had a pediatrician who wrote a book with the help of Weight Watchers called "Eat! Move! Play!". The book is all about helping your kids make healthy decisions when it comes to food. As soon as I saw the segment, I knew that I needed to buy the book. I headed to my local bookstore and picked it up.

I haven't gotten too far into the book yet (it's been a busy day) but as I was reading the introduction, something struck a nerve with me. There was a study done on girls 5-11 and they found that girls who came from families where the mothers and fathers ate too much and engaged in little physical activity had a greater increase in body mass index and body fat by age 11 that those girls whose parents had healthier diet and excercise habits. The researchers concluded that "The enviroment that parents create, by way of their own dietary and physical activity behaviors may have a lasting negative effect on the children's weight trajectories and their emerging obesity risk behaviors, such as their dietary patterns."

When I read this, I was blown away. I guess when I really think about this, I have always known this to be true. If your kids see you eating a huge bowl of ice cream, they are going to want to have a huge bowl of ice cream as well. At the same time, if children see you eating nice healthy foods, they will want to eat the same thing.

The more I think about this concept, the more convinced I am that I need to get myself in shape and start eating the right foods. I have been trying my hardest to get into shape and I really hope that my kids see that I am working out and eating right. Of course maybe I need to actually talk to them about it rather than hoping that they see it.

For anyone who watches Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution on ABC, I would like to start a food revolution of my own with my family. I hope this book will help me do just that. I definitely plan to do the things that the book suggests and even try out a few of the recipes on my family
As I read this book further, I will definitely post my thoughts on the blog.