If Cookie Monster can eat and live healthier, then so can we

By DeANNE BAER

For the Mirror

This month, PBS made a major announcement: Cookie Monster, a favorite blue, furry friend on “Sesame Street” who typically shoves plates of cookies in his face and eats everything with wild abandon, will be eating healthier!

The whole “Sesame Street” gang will also be more active in its 35th season and give tips to children viewers for better health. It’s one way PBS is helping to address the obesity epidemic in America, and my hat is off to them.

As a registered nurse and wellness expert, I couldn’t be happier with the news. And while the national media has had some fun talking about the implications of the C-Monster changing his ways, it provides us with yet another timely reason to get active and eat right.

Last year, we all got an alarming wake up call when the Surgeon General announced obesity is the fastest growing cause of disease and death in America. Nearly two out of every three Americans are overweight or obese; and one out of every eight deaths in America is caused by an illness directly related to lack of physical activity and obesity.

The debate is ongoing and continues to pour over multiple causes, including what we’re eating, how much we’re eating and how little we’re moving.

All of the above are important, and perhaps the hardest part is getting started with changing our old habits.

A good example from Cookie Monster and other community leaders may be just the right ingredient for change.

Locally, we won’t have to look too far for a good example. Female soccer star Brandi Chastain helped the MultiCare Center for Healthy Living kick off its Million Minute Mission last Saturday at the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center.

The Million Minute Mission is a grassroots physical activity initiative geared to help local residents in Federal Way, south King County and Pierce County improve health and fitness. The initiative encourages adults to complete 30 minutes of moderate physical activity five days a week for eight weeks, and children and youth to do 30 to 60 minutes of activity for the same duration. With a goal of 1,000 participants, our community will collectively exceed 1 million minutes of moderate physical activity in two months.

Participants may sign up for the Million Minute Mission through the end of April at www.multicare.org/mission.

Participants will be able to track their activity on-line, view progress reports and enter to win prizes, including a free one-week membership to any YMCA in Pierce County for all involved.

Signing up for the Million Minute Mission is one way to get motivated. Physical activity is an important part of a healthy lifestyle, but it doesn’t come easy to everyone. It also doesn’t mean you have to start running five miles a day. Adding a few activities to your daily routine is all it takes.

If Cookie Monster can trade in a plate of scrumptious chocolate chips for carrot sticks or long walks around the “Sesame Street” neighborhood, perhaps we all can change our old habits and kick start a more healthy lifestyle.

DeAnne Baer is a registered nurse and director of the MultiCare Center for Healthy Living.

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