story and photo by Micheil O’Rourke-Cole
There were kids who had personal goals, and kids who knew that being fit meant feeling better and being better to themselves. One of Nickelodeon’s “Let’s Just Play Go Healthy Challenge” fitness fighters is called the “Activist” because his direction is aimed at his community with programs designed to educate and to promote a healthier lifestyle.
What was “neat” about Robert Wesley Davis, age 14 of Phenix City, said Viacom’s Thamar Romero, was that his goal for this year’s “Let’s Just Play Go Healthy Challenge” was a little different. “Wes wanted this for his whole family,” she said. “He wanted everyone involved, to be healthier.”
“It’s all his fault,” said Lori Davis, Wes’ mom. “He wants us to live to drive him crazy.” He has succeeded. Wes the “Barrier Breaker” set out to change his family’s lifestyle, and with a little help from Nickelodeon, their advisors and a local support team, the Davis family is today a happy bunch of admitted ex-couch potatoes with some major changes in food and exercise strategies.
“We did need an improvement in our eating habits,” said Lori. “They were horrible. We were always in such a hurry, all the time.” The Davises are a classic representation of the modern American family. Both parents work full time and Wes and Lindsey, age 9, are active at school. Frequently, said Lori, they fell into fast and easy meals in the evening.
Now the days of the two-Snickers-bar snack are gone and the family walks together on a regular basis. They are members of the YMCA and swim together often. As a unit they are now focused on eating better and setting a strong example for each other and for other families that are drawn to drive-through windows between after-school functions, homework and evening activity meetings.
With help from a local chef, sharing preparation responsibilities and an education in a variety of spices, the Davises enjoy healthy meals without losing any flavor or suffering crucial scheduling failures. The task was tricky, said the Davis family. Although Lindsey likes broccoli and other colorful choices, Wes doesn’t care for vegetables and says he had a natural bend toward McDonald’s cheeseburgers and “freedom fries.”
“It wasn’t easy to start with,” said Lori. “I thought we were going to kill each other. You had to go cold turkey off of it all. But then, after the shock wore off, we were able to adapt better. Now, I really don’t miss candy bars. You really don’t miss the junk.”
Wes was chosen by Nickelodeon with three other members of the “younger generation” for a televised reality check. “Let’s Just Play Go Healthy Challenge” has aimed and fired at childhood obesity by asking kids to get active and eat smarter on their own behalf. Nick is tackling lifestyles by daring youngsters to change what has become a nationwide problem. The network offers those that accept that challenge a chance to see how others can and do succeed by way of video diaries and 15-minute to halfhour spots to “check in” on the progress of four kids Nick has chosen from thousands in a national search.
The programming started last April, and for the Davises, the six-month tour into the world of better health has changed their lives significantly for the better. Lori went to her class reunion at Central in a dress she would not have been able to wear last winter. “That was the icing on the cake, right there,” said Lori. Larry said he has lost 40 pounds, but he cautions that weight loss is just a benefit of a healthier lifestyle, not the focus of the adventure. Lindsey loves the time they all spend together. “I don’t think Lindsey needed it as much as the rest of us did,” said Wes. “She is the active one.”
The whole family said they are moving forward and not going back. With moderation as their key to success, new activities are dancing on the horizon for the Davises. Tennis is the next pastime on their list of things to try, and Wes has been given a new challenge by his coach, Mike Stanislawski. He is getting himself ready to take on a leg of the Tour de Georgia — biking from Columbus to Augusta to Savannah. He is looking at a 21-speed Mongoose for the pleasure and purpose of the ride, and has been training already during physical education classes at Central. Lindsey has some wheels picked out too. “Mom says I can ask Santa for a new bike I really, really want,” said Lindsey. “It has a back-pack in front of it.”
The future goal for this family full of fitness: Keep on, keeping on. “We want to get to what society calls a healthy level,” said Wes.
Viacom’s Nickelodeon has become the household word in children’s television networks and is now in its 27th year. Nick’s “Let’s Just Play” campaign is almost three-years fit. The whole idea is to get kids into what is the best thing for kids to do: Eat healthy, live healthy, be healthy and go on out and play.
“Let’s Just Play Go Healthy Challenge” is sponsored by Nick and partnered with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a joint initiative of the William J. Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association.
Helping children to fight childhood obesity became the focus of the network in 2004 when they launched worldwide the now annual “Day of Play.” On October 1, Nickelodeon promoted and encouraged the younger generation into movement and activity and did something no other children’s television network has ever done, at least not on purpose. The network went dark.
