I am not still not sure how she found me, but a lovely lady who does work for the Subway peeps got in touch about a new program to prevent childhood obesity they're doing in conjunction with the National Institute of Health's We Can! program. There are some scary stats out there: Almost one in five American four-year-olds is obese, according to a study by the National Center for Education Statistics. And one out of three kids ages 2 to 19 is overweight or at the risk of becoming overweight, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Granted, you and I have a lot more pressing issues than chubbiness to worry about when it comes to our kids. Max actually needs to gain weight, which is why he has been on the Dunkin' Donuts diet. But I know that his slimness has been a boon to his mobility; heft doesn't do kids with physical challenges much good. At four, Sabrina is a little too young to be watching her figure, though she is big for her age. At her annual the doctor told us to put her on skim milk, lay off the snacks and consider liposuction. Kid-ding!
Subway has a YouTube video on childhood obesity that features boxer Laila Ali and Jared, that guy who lost serious weight by eating subs. One of the anti-obesity tips is to reduce screen time on computers, so for the love of God, make sure your kids are not reading this blog. Here's the video, FYI.
I have five $20 Subway vouchers up for grabs—so if you're one of the five winners, you get $20 worth of free Subway eats! To enter, just leave a comment below about your favorite meal to make for your kids. It doesn't have to be admirably healthy, I just want some ideas! I'll choose five winners at random on Sunday evening and announce them on Monday (then you can send me your e-mail so Subway Lady can get in touch about where to mail the vouchers). Alternatively, if you don't have any great meal suggestions, just let me know the time and day you'd be willing to come over to my house and bring some good takeout.
xo
