First Lady Michelle Obama’s anti-obesity campaign is promoting giant carrots for kids to climb, instructing parents to park far away from stores to get more exercise, and hosting summer camps that utilize a "Let’s Move" curriculum.
More than a year after Obama announced Let’s Move Museum and Gardens, the initiative highlighted an exhibit by a children’s museum on Friday as a prime example of the things the program is accomplishing, such as getting kids to exercise on 10-foot carrot play structures and squash slides.
The program encourages museums, zoos, and science and technology centers to implement physical activity into their exhibits and change their menus to offer healthier items. Let’s Move Museum and Gardens is run by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the first lady’s office, and is intended as a "high visibility national initiative that has the capacity to change children’s lives."
One participating institution, the Children’s Museum of the Treasure Coast in Jensen Beach, Fla., started a farm exhibit based off a book series that features a grasshopper mascot named "Spiffy."
"His goal is to teach kids how to live a healthy balanced lifestyle," Mary Murphy, who works for the museum, wrote on the Let’s Move blog in a post entitled, "Children’s Museum Takes Different Approach on Childhood Obesity."
"Spiffy’s Once Upon A Farm creates an early, positive association for children to get excited about healthy habits, physical fitness, and having fun in the process," the post continued. "We teamed up with the Martin Memorial Health Foundation and private donor David Smythe to install play structures based on depictions from Spiffy’s Once Upon A Farm. Kids can climb the 10-foot carrot and slide down the 15-foot squash slide, having fun while getting fit and physical."
The playground equipment is based off a children’s book series created by Nancy Erlick, whose designs are "ready to be implemented in support of Mrs. Obama's Let's Move initiative."
Erlick designed the "Carrot Climb," squash slide, and an "orange go-round" out of her concern over the "increasingly disturbing trends towards lack of physical exercise and childhood obesity in today's environment of ‘fast food’ and ‘couch potatoes.’"
"We take the issue of childhood obesity very seriously," said Tammy Calabria, the executive director of the Children’s Museum of the Treasure Coast. "The Children’s Museum is very proud to have found a unique approach to fighting this epidemic, and we anticipate coming up with more wonderful ideas to keep kids fit in a way that’s fun for them."
Obama’s campaign also highlighted the Strong Museum in Rochester, New York for putting on a five day Let’s Move summer camp, where kids sorted food for fun.
"During the Let’s Move! event, students worked up a sweat through a variety of activities, including yoga, which included basic poses and stretching; active games such as hopscotch; and miniature golf," according to the Let’s Move July 31 newsletter. "Students also learned about healthy eating habits, planned their own menus using the government’s My Plate dietary guidelines, and played a food sorting game. Teachers received a list of resources and books—such as My Plate and You and The Great Outdoors—to encourage active learning in their classrooms."
The camp taught more than 1,200 elementary school children using "Let’s Move!-themed lessons" to "learn how to develop good habits for the summer ahead."
"The Strong believes in promoting an active lifestyle to help combat childhood obesity," said Debbie McCoy, the museum’s director of education. "We hope that the lessons students learned here will carry into their summer activities—and through the rest of their lives."
The museums and gardens program provides a toolkit, including a checklist for parents on activities they can do at home. Let’s Move’s tells parents to "tumble in the leaves, build a snowman, splash in a puddle, or dance to favorite music," in order to exercise with their kids.
Mrs. Obama’s campaign also advises families to "bike to the library together," "dance or move during commercial breaks," "walk instead of drive," and "pace the sidelines" at their child’s sporting events.
"Park further away," the checklist reads. "Count the steps with your children it takes from the car to the destination. Write it down. See if you can park even further away on your next stop."
The campaign also has a "healthy family calendar" where families earn stars for eating healthy and exercising during the week.
The museum and garden initiative is funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and provides grants to projects that "provide important health messages to children and their parents and caregivers."
For instance, last year Magic House, a children’s museum in St. Louis, received $117,500 to implement a "Fit For All Kids" program, a "cohesive campaign to educate and encourage families to make positive health and lifestyle choices."