Shaq's Big Challenge Episode 1: The Challenge Begins

When I was asked to do a recap of Shaq's Big Challenge, I was a little skeptical. I'm not really that into sports and while I do know who Shaq is, you could count the rest of the NBA's current roster that I know on one hand. But when I researched the show, I knew I would love it.

For those of you who don't know, Shaq's Big Challenge is a bit of a take-off on The Biggest Loser, but for kids. Shaquille O'Neal is the superstar basketball player with the super-sized heart who is taking on the United States' growing childhood obesity problem. Since he's a big guy, 7 feet and 1 inch tall and 325 pounds, he's taking on his mission in a big way. While he is trying to make a difference in the lives of six kids by changing their diet and exercise habits, he's not stopping there. He is also attacking the nation's public schools to get better nutrition and more intensive physical education programs available to all kids.

As a mother of three, this is a topic near and dear to my heart. I know from experience that our public schools don't take this issue seriously enough. For instance, the way the schedule is set up at my daughter's school, most weeks she only has PE once and she never has it more than twice in a week. The AMA has stated that everyone should get at least 30 minutes of physical activity every day, so you do the math. Don't even get me started on some of the crap they try to serve those kids for lunch, it's horrifying. When you toss in that we are a fast food society, it's no wonder so many kids are fat.

We open the show watching Shaq play basketball with his son. Shaq tells us that he loves kids and that he has six of his own, that he knows how to handle them. If this is true, then hats off to him. I only have three and they are generally good but I still have days when I wish Calgon would take me away.

He then informs us that childhood obesity is more of a threat to kids than drugs or guns. He rattles off some frightening stats: 59 million Americans are considered obese and 300,000 die each year from related causes. Oh... jeez... give me a sec while I call Dominos and cancel my pizza order. Shaq tells us that he wants to take this fight national and in case you don't believe him, he says he's willing to show up at the governor's office buck naked just to have a chance to talk to him. Think that might make the news?

Shaq then jumps into his car to go meet the kids he will be helping. He says, and I am quoting here, "Working with six kids is going to be easy, it's going to be a piece of cake. I could do that with my eyes closed." OK, Shaq may be a superstar, but give me a break. Kids are kids and he may be underestimating how much work is going to be involved for him just a smidge. He clearly doesn't understand how difficult it is to change one's poor eating and exercise habits, even for motivated adults. It would seem to be monumentally harder with kids, who don't care about heart disease but just want you to give them their Twinkies and go away.

The first kid we meet is James, the junk food junkie. He is 11 years old and weighs 182 pounds. James tells us that he wants to be a professional wrestler when he grows up. Shaq arrives at James' house to find him eating dinner. James is having a hamburger with fries AND a sub sandwich, which Shaq says is more than he eats. James' mother then starts to make excuses about James' condition by saying that she is a single mother and that fast food is just very convenient for her. She then explains that when she makes popcorn for the kids, she uses two sticks of butter (yikes!) and they still want more.

Shaq very astutely points out that James' mother is part of the problem. Not to be judgmental but as far as I'm concerned, this problem is entirely her fault. You have to be responsible and teach your kids how to be healthy by example. She's the one with the money, she can control what food comes into the house, not James. The same holds true for all of the parents on this show. They should be ashamed of themselves for letting their kids get in such a state. Here ends my lecture.

You can tell from the interaction between James and Shaq that Shaq was telling the truth about loving kids. It's obvious that Shaq knows how to relate to kids. Shaq says that James is going to be his captain because he has a good attitude and hasn't gotten into a sad state about his weight. Shaq asks James about some boys on the corner that he passed who are playing football. James says he doesn't like them because one of the kids called him fat. Even though James doesn't think he's fat, Shaq takes him out to the corner to run a little interference. He asks the boy who called James fat to come over and tells him that he will be friends with James from now on. The boy nods, presumably wets his pants, and all is well.