Childhood obesity 2 Opperation Pull Your own Weight.

This article is a follow up to my recent one on childhood obesity. I have been contacted by an organization that has a plan to combat this epidemic. The organization is called Operation Pull Your Own Weight.  www.pullyourownweight.net. Rick and Pam Osbourne are the driving force behind this organization. They are former physical educators who are passionate about childhood obesity. As a matter of fact, they have published two books on the subject. I had the opportunity to have a nice conversation with Rick. 

Question: What is the premise of Operation Pull Your Own Weight? 

Rick: We suggest that you start ‘em young before supersizing takes root, and help kids learn to physically pull their own weight – to do conventional pull ups. Once that’s achieved, it’s a simple matter of eating and exercising in such a way that they maintain the ability to do pull ups. Kids who maintain that ability are automatically and naturally immunized against obesity for life. And there’s not one school in the USA who’s unable to afford to do this either. 

Question: How did you come up with the program? 

Rick: Years ago I was part of an at-risk research grant that was intended to improve the self-esteem of a group of elementary school kids in Davenport, Iowa.  Being the only physical educator on staff, I was put in charge of the physical aspect of the grant. The result was a program we called Operation Pull Your Own Weight.  We found that as children worked their way into being able to do pull-ups they gained (among other things) tremendous self-confidence. In this school, doing pull ups became so popular that we almost had to build a fence around the pull up bar in order to keep kids from overdoing it. 

Question: What is the long term goal of the program? 

Rick: The long term goal of the program is to help kids all over the U.S learn to physically pull their own weight, naturally immunize millions of kids against obesity, and eventually turn the tide and win the war on childhood obesity with an incredibly simple strategy. Done right, we estimate that childhood obesity could be eliminated within one decade. 

Question: What if kids are embarrassed because they cannot do a pull-up? 

Rick: We never put children in a position where they embarrass themselves. We find a point at which each child succeeds, in front of their friends, week after week, month after month, all year long. And as the result the kids in this program learn to expect success instead of failure. And guess what, they also learn that it’s fun to succeed at a difficult task, in front of their friends and to get congratulated every time it happens. So there is NO EMBARRASSMENT in Operation Pull Your Own Weight. (Watch the You Tube video.) 

I would like to thank Rick for his time and wish him luck on his ambitious goals. This definitely can be a great way for schools to help give kids the confidence to stay fit.