On Obesity

So I've been watching Shaq's big Challenge, and I have a couple of thoughts about it:

1) Parental involvement really affects how much weight the kids lose. The parents that were fully on board had kids that lost between 40-60 pounds, those whose parents weren't as involved lost FAR less (25-30). The smallest kid lost the most weight, and actually is a normal weight now, mostly because his parents really helped him along. Which brings me to my second thought:

2) Why didn't his parents also diet? They were already preparing healthier meals for him, why not for themselves? Shaq provided a stair stepper for the kid, couldn't the parents use it too?

3) As great as this program is, how many kids are going to have a trainer to work with them 2 hours a day, 5 days a week? And Shaq to ease the way in their school? This program clearly cannot be implemented on a national level, although the "Shaquille O'Neal wellness wheel" could.

4) Why didn't Shaq provide diets with recipes for the kids? It's pretty standard in most weight loss programs. Dieting (when done correctly) can help to lose more weight than exercise (although it is ideal to do both), yet their wasn't much focus on what it meant to 'eat healthy' other than just to cut out junk food. The only exception was for Chris, whose parents were taught how to make their traditional ethnic food in a healthier way.

5) I just read an article about how some school in Arizona (now can't find it) had the kids protest the vegetables in their cafeteria, and they just won the right to a taste-test of cost effective alternatives. Although, for the record, I don't remember my cafeteria food being that unhealthy. But then again, I always brought my lunch.