U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama is launching a nationwide campaign to raise awareness of childhood obesity. Here is an interview with her from last night's News Hour with Jim Lehrer.  http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/jan-june10/firstlady_02-09.html .  It's a serious problem and a grave threat to our nation. One in three U.S. children is overweight. We all know the risk factors thereof. I won't go into any medical or dietary specifics, because I'm not qualified and because the whole "Let's Move" campaign is explained on its own website. http://www.letsmove.gov .

What I am going to add is a few thoughts based on my reminiscences of a childhood battling a weight problem. I'll tell you where "they lost me."  Phy Ed classes in 12 years of public school, with exceptions amounting to mere days, did me no good at all. What I remember is being asked to do useless activities such as try to climb a rope hanging from the ceiling of the gym-what was that about?  In 49 years of living, not once have I had the need to climb a 20 foot rope. I remember bouncing on a trampoline and trying the uneven parallel bars-both disasters. I am afraid of heights and had no aptitude for gymnastics. I hate volleyball, basketball, softball and track. Sit ups, push ups and jumping jacks were a joke. Being forced to play sports against my will didn't help me-it just made me resentful. Physical activity became associated with failure, embarrassment and fear. 

Then, to make matters worse, in Minnesota we were forced to go outside in the winter for recess. I hated every single day. I stood outside freezing so that (in my mind) the teachers could have 30 minutes of peace and quiet. We were told we needed "fresh air."  As far as I could tell, the air was just as fresh inside the warm school. I didn't get fit-I just got furious. I get mad right now just thinking about it. Gym teachers had curricular units they had to tick off and mark "completed" on their clipboards. With every checkmark, they gave me one more reason to hate gym class.

What I did like, but what wasn't covered enough, was dance and swimming. What would've helped me would have been a physical education program designed around things I could do-and wanted to do. Like walking. Why was I forced to try sports that I was destined to fail at?  I wish I could've left childhood committed to a lifetime of dance, swimming and just plain walking.  

Here are the uneven parallels: athletic ability is endowed unevenly. I was born an endomorph. But there could've been a parallel track I would've enjoyed, pursuing physical activity I could've benefitted from and used throughout my life. I hope the Let's Move campaign gets it right.