PR professionals do make a difference every day. We share information, we educate, we empower, and we connect people. I take pride in the work I've done as a PR professional knowing that I've made a difference in the lives of many by me using my voice to give others who aren't being heard the opportunity. We need to share more about the positive impact we have on our society.

Richard,

You're right, childhood obesity is an epidemic. I heard a statistic the other day - this is the first generation where children have a lower life expectancy than their parents. Wow, that's scary!

I agree that PR people can make a difference and applaud you and all the other PR professionals who are promoting a healthy lifestyle for children.

I look forward to hearing more about your program and its success.

Ruth Keefover

As a student who is graduating the University of Michigan in May, I came across your blog when I was researching the opportunities at Edelman. Having recently completed a project on childhood obesity for a Positive Psychology class, I was interested in your viewpoint on the issue. Convincing school aged children to eat healthy foods is a lot like PR. In PR, you try to give the public a positive image of your company, thereby improving their desire for the company’s products; in school lunches, you need to improve children’s image of healthy foods, thereby increasing their desire to eat these foods. Rather than using negative campaigns, like ‘banning’ certain foods and ‘demanding’ healthy menus that do not address the “I hate vegetables” mentality, my proposal involved having the older children (fifth and sixth graders) work with a nutritionist to develop the healthy menus and giving the younger grades the opportunity to name some of the foods (i.e. asparagus could be named Britney’s Spears). The children are more apt to eat a healthy lunch when they are positively engaged in the process. Similar programs that have been implemented have proven very successful; not only have children improved their eating habits, but lunch sales also increased since more students were eating lunch at school. I hope that you consider these options in your “Fuel Up to Play 60” campaign.

As a soon-to-be PR college graduate, I understand how important it is to love and believe in your work and who you represent. If you are passionate about something, it will show through your work.

Childhood obesity is a serious issue that our country is facing. PR professionals can use their connections to make a difference and promote a healthy lifestyle for all children.

I agree that PR people can make a huge difference when trying to promote anything. It is inevitable the more people Michelle Obama gets to join her campaign the more publicity and recognition the campaign will receive. I believe that this is a great cause and one that needs to fixed in our country, especially in today's generations where childhood obesity has grown into a huge health problem.

I am very passionate about this cause as well. It is truly amazing that 1/3 of our youth is obese. What really saddens me is the two, three and four year olds you see who are practically morbidly obese and there parents are feeding them mcdonalds chicken nuggets and french fries. I completely acknowledge the profound effect PR can have on our society and I am extremely excited about Michelle Obama's campaign. This is a cause that has gone unnoticed for too long and I applaud you for bringing the issue to social media as well.

I couldn’t agree more with this blog. Using the subject of childhood obesity is a perfect example of how PR can truly make a difference in a life-threatening issue. Sound statistics, problem identification and even strong solutions are not enough to solve the issue. We need celebrity, political, and corporation support to make Americans aware of the problem and ways to fix it. I believe the campaign against childhood obesity will take a similar role to the anti-smoking campaign. The support from public figures, strong advertising and anti-smoking programs implemented throughout the nation has brought down the statistics of young smokers significantly in the past two decades. With enough support, we can do this with childhood obesity.

The responsibility of a PR professional is to effectively communicate to the public. It is our job to inform them in a way they will understand and encourage them to take action. By collaboratively using creative minds, logical thinking, status of public figures and exhausting all methods of communication, we will make a difference!

I'd have to say yes. Anybody in a big business needs PR to get ahead faster and stronger. PR's can make a really huge difference to the person's/company's profile.

PR professionals would be a great help in promoting a healthy lifestyle to all Americans. And this way they could lend a hand in every single obese person to make a move a practice healthy lifestyle. And i think we should help Michelle Obama in her advocacy to fight Obesity.

PR can make a difference in combating obesity, but only if it a part of an education campaign. I have recently come upon some interesting and relevant stats. The CDC tells us the national childhood obesity rate has nearly tripled in the past 30 years. Over the same time, health spending in America has followed the same trend. In 1965, health spending in America, as a % of GDP, was 5%. In 2010 it was 18%. It steadily rose in the intervening years. If the rising trend in obesity is not halted and reversed, it will continue to consume an increasing % of GDP as the years go by. It is my view that the rising trend of obesity in this country will not be halted and reversed until there is a MASSIVE education campaign that teaches people, children and adults alike, about nutrition, healthy eating and the need to lead a physically active lifestyle to live a healthy life.