WATCH: Oh, Kmart!
Pamela Poole: Talk About a Choking Hazard! What I Never Expected to…
This 'Let's Move!' Ad Isn't Going to Get Kids Moving
"Let's Move!" has an ad campaign running that should be called "Let's Lie!"
A mom is in the kitchen when her daughter, age about 11, calls down from the stairway, "Can I have a dollar?" The mom sees her wallet right there on the counter next to her, but smiles to herself and yells to her kid to look upstairs. Then downstairs. Then up in another bedroom. Then down in the dining room. Then through all of the closets upstairs and down until finally the girl comes into the kitchen and sees the wallet has been sitting there the whole time.
In the ad, it's a cute moment. In real life, I just don't know a lot of kids who'd grin, "Thanks for the wild goose chase, Mom! I love being tricked!"
But, amazingly, lying to your kids isn't even the most galling thing about this ad. What's worse is the idea that it is up to us parents to come up with endless clever ways to get our kids moving. Let's see ... this little ruse was good for maybe a minute's worth of mild exercise? Now all a mom has to do is come up with another 59 pointless tasks and her kid will have an hour's worth of cardio. (And a lifetime's worth of therapy material.)
"Mom was here!" the ad exults, but that's exactly the problem. Why is Mom expected to come up with activities for a girl who is clearly old enough to entertain herself? Why doesn't she just tell her to go outside and play? It worked for our moms! But the new idea of a "good" mother is one who is always involved. A constant companion. Some might say: a helicopter.
That's ironic because one of the reasons kids are so sedentary -- and chubby -- is that we keep them glued to our sides. If we don't let them ride their bikes around the nabe, or walk to school, or play in the park, of course they are going to be stuck inside. And we are stuck trying to prod them off the couch.
"Let's Move!" seems to believe our kids are unsafe having an old-fashioned childhood, even though FBI stats show there is less crime today than when we were kids running around in the '70s and '80s.
Until the campaign embraces the idea that kids can get moving on their own, they won't. They'll get fat and we'll feel guilty.
Great.
Check out Healthy Families Challenge!
Your<span>Voice</span>
Ask Us Anything About Parenting
TheTalkies:RelatedVideos
-
How to Get Your Family in Shape
In this video, fitness trainer, Billy Polson helps get Kathleen Beck's family into shape. The first step was to find just 15 minutes a day where the whole family is available to exercise. According to Billy, one of the best ways for a family to exercise together is by simply walking. It's important to keep the walk interesting by letting kids choose their own activities. Billy also says introducing the element of surprise can keep things fresh.
-
Doing Activities for Kids from Geek Dad
In this video you will find some family projects and great activities for kids. For example a project that lets you capture footage from the air using balloons and a Flip camera.
-
How to Let Kids Shine
Sunny D and Better continue the week long program of ways to bring your family together, and find the way to shine in any moment. Today, we make breakfast as a family.
-
Parenting: Kids and Guilt
Family coach and motivational speaker Susan Stone Belton gives you tips on how to let go of guilt.
SitesWeLove
- Site Map
- |
- Staff
- |
- Terms of Service
- |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Trademarks
- |
- Advertise With Us
- |
- About Our Ads
- |
- AOL Downloads
- |
- Contact Us
- |
© Copyright 2012 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Aol Family
ReaderComments (Page 2 of 2)
3-30-2011 @ 1:46PM
Momma said...Are you implying that children old enough to attend ball games or scouting activities are being kept at home and denied an education? Or are you just promoting the idea that dropping an infant off at a daycare facility for 9 hours a day is superior to that child being in the loving care of their own mother?
I'm guessing you don't have children, because your perceptions of what parents and children do with their lives is idiotic and grounded in total fantasy. Too bad your parents didn't put in more effort.
Reply
3-30-2011 @ 2:16PM
Elle said...I question that there is less crime than in the past (certainly not before 1960). What kinds of crimes are the stats talking about? I find this hard to believe with so many kids being taken advantage of and even killed. You never heard that years ago.
I always walked half a mile to the school bus on the road. Not today. Women could actually hitch-hike without fear; never now.
Somebody has got to be deceiving us. There may have been more bank robberies in days gone by, but more murders now and cons of all types.
Reply
3-30-2011 @ 2:31PM
yeltrikjr13 said...i gotta agree with a lot of u. if my mother or fatehr did this to me it would only make me try and steal the damn dollar.. then go back and sit inmy room playing whatever. YES kids need to be more active, but when hovering parents freaking out if your out of there eye line for 2 seconds and take u home, back to the sitting in ur room problem, what r u gonna do?
H
Reply
4-20-2011 @ 10:37AM
John Hutton said...Hi Lenore!
Agreed completely. As a pediatrician, I'm always amazed at how difficult implementing simple advice can be, leaving parents with the notion that they somehow need to resort to tricks as above, or some kind of curriculum. As an example, two of the most potent, anti-obesity interventions a parent can make are 1) removing all video screens from the child's bedroom (by far #1), leaving them little choice but to come downstairs or - gasp - use their imagination, and 2) reading (books). The second one is counter-intuitive, but when kids read they don't often snack at the same time, and there is evidence that overall literacy promotes improved health literacy, ramps up imagination and cognitive activity, and so on. It's also a great alternative to screen time, which is a major risk factor. I'm going to add a third, 3) Decoupling viewing with eating of any kind (ok, at the movies gets a pass), akin to drinking and driving. There is evidence that zoning out on screens short-circuits feelings of fullness, making kids eat more than they ordinarily would. Then there's the commercials. Basically, eat when it's time ti eat, watch when it's time to watch.
No tricks, no gimmicks. Oh - and go outside, too.
Reply