Are You Living Right Now?
Monday, January 3, 2011
Last night, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation launched Live Right Now, a national 6-month, multi-platform initiative to inspire Canadians to get healthier.
According to an exclusive CBC poll, Canadians say obesity is the country’s number one health issue, rating higher than any other concern-including nutrition and the state of our health care system.
According to a report aired on last night’s The National, the average Canadian may well consume a whole extra meal a day in calories (not surprising, given that the vast majority of Canadians have absolutely no clue about the “currency” of body weight). You can watch the report, which features Yoni Freedhoff by clicking here.
Live Right Now will be supported across all of CBC’s platforms – on radio, television and online with programs such as the following:
Monday, January 3
On The National, Kelly Crowe meets a man who is striving to lose 70 pounds by his wedding in October. And Reg Sherren extends a personal challenge to a group of Canadians to get active.
Tuesday, January 4
World Report on CBC Radio One, and The National look at the role sleep deprivation may or may not play in the obesity epidemic.
Wednesday, January 5
CBC News Network’s Colleen Jones tells her very personal story about a recent online quest she took to diagnose a life-threatening virus.
Thursday, January 6
World Report, on CBC Radio One, asks the question – Is sugar the new hidden poison? And Village on a Diet’s Dr. Ali Zentner goes grocery shopping with CBC News Network hosts Heather Hiscox and Suhana Meharchand to evaluate their food choices.
At the heart of Live Right Now is an interactive online community, LiveRightNow.ca, with tips, tools, challenges and support to guide Canadians on their journey to better health.
Live Right Now will also include programming such as
VILLAGE ON A DIET: An 11-part television series, which follows residents of Taylor B.C. as they commit to shedding one ton of collective weight in just three months. Village On A Diet premieres Jan. 3 and airs Mondays at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT) on CBC-TV.
THE MILLION POUND CHALLENGE – A national call-to-action, housed on LiveRightNow.ca, that will encourage Canadians to lose one million pounds of collective weight in 6 months. Canadians can pledge to lose weight, track their progress and motivate others to participate via LiveRightNow.ca.
RUN RUN REVOLUTION – An experiential television and online documentary series that will follow a group of middle school-aged children as they prepare for the youth section of the Boston Marathon. The docu-style special will not only transform the lives of the runners, it will bring together families and communities and highlight the importance of raising a healthy generation.
Activities and programming will end in a celebration on CANADA DAY (July 1).
As one of the advisors to the CBC (representing the Canadian Obesity Network), I sincerely hope that Live Right Now will go well beyond simply promoting the “eat less – move more” platitude and truly address the “root causes” of the obesity epidemic including stress, lack of time, sleep deprivation, trauma, mental health problems, and poor caloric awareness and literacy.
I certainly look forward to the many comments from my readers, who I am sure will have plenty to say about this initiative.
AMS
Berlin, Germany
Monday, January 3, 2011
I watched the program last night. As a person trained and worked in different health care areas for many years I consider myself very conscious about my health and specially diet. Always searching for the amount of calories I put in and salt and fat content of every purchased grocery items yet, watching the CBC report and Dr Yoni Freedhoff experiment, I realized that I still need to put more effort for a healthy life and “Living right now”. To me the program is such a graet eye opener and reminder for the current Obesity issue and the amount of work needed to get done to battle the weight problem in Canada and elsewhere in the world!
Thank you very much to you and all your colleagues for the efforts you make to increase national awareness for weight issues and encouraging people to take the road to a healthy life. 🙂
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
I wonder if the series will include a section on how to keep off those million pounds once they’re gone. I find that maintenance is by far the hardest part.