Shaq's Big Challenge--Revealing the Realty of Child-based Weight Loss Reality Programs

It's at epidemic proportions. No, we are not talking about childhood obesity- even though that is an epidemic. What we are referring to is the media frenzy about quick fixes for the problem.

Most recently Shaquille O'Neal produced Shaq's Big Challenge. It was one of many reality shows designed to tug at your heartstrings. The ABC summer series featured the Miami Heat star. Set in Broward County, Florida, it was touted as Shaq's effort to help school children lose weight. The idea was not an original one. In fact, the show was patterned after a British series "Ian Wright's Unfit Kids," which featured the former soccer star.

The show followed six obese children for nine months. It was grueling to watch as the kids followed an intense exercise program and got advice to improve their diets. The children were monitored by medical professionals who admitted it was a major challenge.

Pediatric gastroenterologist William Muonos of Miami Children's Hospital was quoted in USA Today as saying the show "illustrates the extensive struggle the kids went through to lose weight, even with all the support they had."

Of course it was a struggle, but it was made more difficult by the boot camp approach to losing weight. While we do not doubt Shaq's real concern for the children, the show did more damage than good in our opinion. It shows physical activity as painful, stressful and emotional. It also sets an unrealistic expectation for all other children who have weight issues.

To make lasting changes that impact the problem of childhood obesity, we must stop trying to force children into the kind of exercise programs that adults engage in. Instead, we need to start to build the foundation for Physical Literacy slowly and make physical activity fun. Unfortunately, because these types of programs are typically less sensational than Shaq's Bug Challenge, they are rarely created.

Return to Previous Page