By Corey Byers

Now that we’re in mid-February, those glittering New Year’s resolutions for 2010 may be losing their motivational sparkle.

One popular resolution that people make is to lose weight and get in shape. Gyms and weight-loss companies offer membership product specials to cash in on those goals; some people follow through while others flounder right about this time of year.

First Lady Michelle Obama is taking in interest in weight-loss efforts, specifically for children. She recently announced a new initiative to coordinate public and private  sectors to “help kids get more active, eat better and get healthy.”

The White House says that “over the past three decades, childhood obesity rates in America have tripled…nearly one in three children in America are overweight or obese.” Obama’s Lets Move! Campaign aims to curb the growing problem at a national level.

The issue of childhood obesity raises the question of how the problem got started in the first place. Health experts will always say diet and exercise are key to maintaining health—but where are children learning these skills? They could be learning them at school, or take the lead from friends, but the biggest impact could be from what they learn at home.

Obama believes parents play a “key role” in how their children make choices regarding diet and exercise. There are numerous resources out there for parents and guardians who want to make changes for themselves with the goal of influencing children.

For those interested in altering their diets for a better future, a good place to start is by taking a portion distortion quiz administered by the National Institutes of Health. The quiz gives participants an idea of how portion sizes at restaurants have changed in the last 20 years and how much exercise is needed to burn off extra calories that come with “super” sizes.

The National Institutes for Health also has an online Body Mass Index, or BMI, calculator to measure body fat based on height and weight. For parents, it might be beneficial to get a gauge on what weight-loss obstacles they need to tackle so they can better understand how to help their children.

It may be hard—and hypocritical—for parents who are unable to control their own weight to teach healthy habits to kids. Besides, how do you teach someone else a skill that you haven’t mastered yourself?

If you’d like to get a better idea on how many calories you can burn through daily activities and exercise, Fitness.gov has an energy expenditure chart posted as a reference. These calculations are based on how many calories a 150-pound person can burn in an hour.

It’s important to note that lifestyle changes and the effects they offer will not happen quickly. Perhaps that’s the reason why so many adults lose sight of their weight-loss goals so early in the year.

A new year may well be underway, but every day can be an opportunity to make long-term, beneficial changes to lifestyles. Perhaps for Obama, her timing on addressing the issue couldn’t have been better.

Blog entries are part of a graduate course on multi-platform storytelling at Virginia Commonwealth University and are based on guidelines by Dr. Timothy Bajkiewicz. The views expressed are of the author and do not reflect the opinions of the class instructor, the university, current or former employers.

Copyright (C) 2010 by Corey Byers. All rights reserved.