Shaqs Big Challenge

[blake711]

Wow did anyone see this last night? I still don't know how I fell about it. Its really sad to see these kids with weight issues like that. Its really hard for me not to lambast the parents for letting their children get that way. Since they are the ones providing the food to these kids.

Shaq was clueless to me and had no idea these kids would play him. He finally admited at the end of the show his own kids do it to him.

Whats your take on it?

http://abc.go.com/primetime/shaqsbigchallenge/index?pn=index

[MissJane]

I watched it and I enjoyed it. I even cried a little, I felt sad when the kids were talking about being picked on and having no friends, especially the Walter kid. While I agree that the parents should have accepted more responsibility than they did, I think it's great that someone like Shaq is creating awareness around this problem. A lot of kids look up to Shaq and maybe it will inspire and scare some kids into being healthier. I for one was shocked at what some of the body fat percentages were on some of those kids! So sad.

I guess it's a lot more productive than what a lot of the professional athletes are running around doing ! :bcb_grin

[itsjustme]

I liked the show - can't wait to see how it all plays out. But.....

I confess to being more than a little miffed that they would just open the gym to these kids with no training and expect them to do a workout without a trainer...or at least having gone through the workout with a trainer a few times before. I can't think of many adults that would have shown up for that! And that poor girl who got smacked in the face with the ball - no wonder she didn't come back!!!! As a mom, I would NOT have allowed my child back into that situation without proper adult supervision. And how dare they get mad at the kids for "playing" them...IMO, they let the kids down by not showing them how to follow the training program before leaving them on their own...these are KIDS!!! :crazy:

I'm hoping they are planning to take a more hands on approach with these kids as the show progresses. Telling them they are morbidly obese, showing them how out of shape they are and then dumping in the gym isn't totally helpful to such young kids.

There's definitely a lot of potential here though and I'll be tuning in to see how it plays out.

[youngfrankenstein]

I thought it was a fantastic show. I can't say Shaq and I would ever be best friends, but he does have a way of talking to the kids without talking down to them. Kids can see through phoney adults.

I was very suprised that the kids were supposed to workout on their own in the first week.

The best thing about this show is that the trainers and drs and Shaq are all stepping up to do what needs to be done. If Shaq realized he'd made a mistake about leaving them unsupervised, he's going to fix it. I like his trainer a lot. These kids do need to be reminded what working hard is.

And I completely agree with you, Blake. Kids rarely get this way from parental supervision. I did have to laugh at the parents when, at the Drs, they said "I can't help feeling I'm somehow partially responsible!" Boo hoo! You are!!! Now do something about it!

OT-How's the baby anyway?

[itsjustme]

I did have to laugh at the parents when, at the Drs, they said "I can't help feeling I'm somehow partially responsible!" Boo hoo! You are!!! Now do something about it!
My husband and I both laughed out loud when the woman said that too!

[shrinkingchic]

I saw only a few minutes of this show before DBF wanted to change it but I think it is a great idea. It is true that it is partially the parents fault for letting the kids get that way but I think that it is also the education system. Gym/physical fitness is not really emphasized that much in schools anymore (it wasn't even when I was in high school) and they also feed kids a bunch of crap for lunch. When I was looking over the menus, I decided that I might start sending my DD with lunch from home so that I have more control over what kind of nutrition she is getting. I think that snacktime may have been more healthy for her than what the cafeteria served. I'm also glad to hear that schools are moving to remove pop machines and vending machines from schools. I remember eating so much junk in high school because it was right there around every corner. My typical lunch in high school: pizza, fries, and a Mountain Dew OR a Little Debbie's large fudge round with a Mountain Dew. It disgusts me when I think of the junk I used to eat. I don't ever remember seeing a salad in my high school. Sorry for the rant everybody!

[blake711]

I think that snacktime may have been more healthy for her than what the cafeteria served. I'm also glad to hear that schools are moving to remove pop machines and vending machines from schools. I remember eating so much junk in high school because it was right there around every corner. My typical lunch in high school: pizza, fries, and a Mountain Dew OR a Little Debbie's large fudge round with a Mountain Dew. It disgusts me when I think of the junk I used to eat. I don't ever remember seeing a salad in my high school. Sorry for the rant everybody!Great point. I remember when we got vending machines in my middle school. Oh man all we ever at was candy, chips and pop from then on all they way till we were old enough to leave the high school at lunch time.. Oh but its for the kids cause the money they make goes to the school. Yeah right, that so doesn't help the kids.

[itsjustme]

I graduated from high school in 1989 (ouch!) and I guess we were pretty progressive when it came to the vending machines as they were only turned on after school - for those that had to stay for sports or other activities. We also had a salad and baked potato bar...but I think most people ate from the ala carte area which served chocolate shakes, french fries and Little Debbie snack cakes.

I saw a food special on TV a few months ago and they were saying that the government funding doesn't allow the schools to do much cooking from scratch - everything comes in pre-packaged and full of preservatives. They talked to people at a private school who did all their cooking from scratch and I think they also talked to one public school who refused federal money so they could improve their menu. They showed one school in a very poor community where only 2 kids in the ENTIRE school were not on the free breakfast/lunch program - which means most of the children in that town are being fed crud for 2 meals every day. Details are fuzzy, but it was a very interesting program.

[kidlets2]

I caught this show for the first time tonight. While I've never been a fan of Shaq's, I am so impressed and have so much respect for the man for stepping up and trying to help kids. At least he recognizes the problem and is trying to do something.

Tonight the kids basically got in trouble for not doing a proper workout without a trainer. Duh! Now they have a trainer who seems to be working them very hard. I do agree with Shaq when he said tonight that these kids aren't used to working out like they are and they have to ease into it. The trainer doesn't seem to be following Shaq's advice.

I also love the fact that Shaq goes into the school to help the other kids that were not chosen for this program. I really like that he's trying to change the legislation to mandate a phy ed program.

[eminpitt]

My 6y.o. DD and I watched this online today. She loves it. While she is not overweight at all and has learned alot about healthy eating from DH and I both being on ww, I think it was great for her to see a show about kids and the importance of activity and eating healthy! She loves it and can't wait for the next episode to come out. I wish I had had this influence when I was her age, maybe I wouldn't be learning all these lessons from ww now, but better late than never. :bcb_LOL:

[youngfrankenstein]

This show continues to make me think and cry each week. Great show last night. Tyler Florence has his work cut out for him.

[Medb48]

CT is removing all vending machines from their schools. Nice start but as a teacher the meal programs in most schools and simply starch, sugar and fried goods. My school has removed all sugary sweets from the menus and the student council has a fruit and veggie sale twice a month. They sell out every time.

[blake711]

I just watched the last 3 episodes tonight online. I tell you I have mixed fellings. The thing that really bothers me the most is that these kids all have major self esteem issues and personality issues which is probably partly do to their size and partly causes them to be so overweight. All these kids have serious social interaction issues. I was glad to see when they opened it up the response of all the other kids coming out. My only concern is how many are doing it just to get to meet shaq.

The chef is the one that is clueless if you ask me. Some of the stuff he is tring to feed those kids. They aren't going to eat it unless it tastes good.

Its great to see these kids getting better but some of those parents makes me sick. You have some that enable their kids to be lazy and overweight. Then you have others that push them over the edge imo. 80% of the parents are morbidly obese. They need to be making changes also. Not just telling their kids to do it. I really would like to see the parents step up and make changes in their own lives. Lead their children by example. This show really disturbs me to be honest.

[blake711]

Ok last night I watched the finale. I still have mixed feelings about this show. After watching it I was glad to see that 4 of the 6 really went after it and I Was amazed at the change in the one cuban boy. He lost 77 pounds and looked great. He also had the best family support from what I saw in the shows. His parents made him exercise and they made him lunches for school cleaned up his eating.. every thing he needed to succeeded. I was also impressed by Walter, Kevin and the white young lady. Each of them made the best of the situation.

That said it really upset me that the Latin girl and James the short white boy squandered this opportunity imo. For them to each do this for 9 months and neither lost more than 25 pounds. It cause mixed emotions for sure. I Was ticked that some other kid could have had that spot and really made something of themselves. The other thing was it made me realize even with Shaq and personal trainers and dietitians. You simply wont be able to help everyone. You can only help the kids that really want it.

Also I was glad to see they are going to implement pe in the schools and other things. The problem is they are doing k-5 only. IT needs to be kids in middle school and up. Thats where the real problem kids are. Also I was not impressed with the famous chef. Kids aren't going to eat all that fancy stuff. Its just not going to happen. An example of that was last weeks Hells Kitchen where they cooked for a high school. They all made fancy dishes except one lady made grilled Cheese chicken sandwiches and onion rings. She won because she catered the meals towards the kids. They can give them healthy food but it can't be so foofoo that kids don't know what it is.

Still I think the show was good overall. It was nice to see the changes made in those kids. I just hope that it will work without having shaq and all these personal trainers doctors and everything else.

Blake

[youngfrankenstein]

I agree with what you think, Blake. Before she came out, I knew Kit hadn't done well. And after nine months, she still couldn't run the mile. That was one of the only things she knew she had to do...

James, the same thing....in both cases it was their attitudes that their parents allowed them to have (and fostered in them) that made them make excuses for themselves.

And I wouldn't call those things push ups! They barely moved their arms....I'm not trying to be all "sour grapes".

I love Walter, he needs his own show! I was cracking up when he was singing on the treadmill and with Dr. Munioz.

I was disappointed at the ending. Saying that things are "about to mandated" doesn't give proof that it will happen.