Battle of West Virginia vs. U.K. Being Weighed Across U.S.

Probably not. Jamie is well meaning and he sends a good message. But most people are addicted to good tasting fatty foods. It would be nice if we could all drop what we are doing, pull out our wok and cook up some organic vegetables. And even nicer if someone would do it for us. But we are not making our living on a reality show. Lifestyles will not start to change unless we increase discrimination against moderately overweight people like we did smokers.

David Livingston, Principal, DJL Research

We can only hope that Mr. Oliver's efforts succeed. Obesity is a ticking time bomb in the US. Mr. Oliver may be cheeky, but his message is sound and the results from the UK reinforce his efforts.

Max Goldberg, Founding Partner, The Radical Clarity Group

It is not surprising that parents are not overwhelmingly supportive of Jamie Oliver's efforts. I view the initial response as one of denial. Parents need to step up and support this or similar efforts to help our children at risk. The risks have been well documented.

In research that I co-authored on school day eating behavior, almost 70% of parents or guardians know very little about their adolescent's eating habits during the school day. In this same survey, students reported eating energy dense foods on almost twice as many occasions (27.13) as nutrient dense foods (14.82) during the previous five school days. Source: "Adolescents and Food Attitudes and Behaviors during the School Day: Implications for Food Marketers," Journal of Food Products Marketing, Vol. 14, Issue 1, 2008 (with Dr. Thomas McDuffie).

The high calorie American diet and lethargic lifestyle is reflected in the percentage of overweight and obese adolescents. Given the central role of schools in providing food and nutrition education, the food choices of youths during the school day should be well known. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Much is known about what is served and should be eaten, health issues related to being overweight, and government food policies. In stark contrast, little is known about what adolescents actually eat.

Jamie Oliver is shining the spotlight on a previously dark area. His efforts should be applauded.

Richard J. George, Ph.D., Professor of Food Marketing, Haub School of Business, Saint Joseph's University

The most shocking part of the Jamie Oliver shows aired so far is the discovery that some kids can't identify a single vegetable.

There's information about nutrition everywhere you look. Parents have a choice: to empower their children to make appropriate food choices and learn to cook, or condemn them to shortened sedentary lives marked by obesity.

Cathy Hotka, Principal, Cathy Hotka & Associates

I have been an avid watcher of Jamie's show and was genuinely shocked to see the type of food that school cafeterias are serving. I was even more shocked to see middle aged kitchen food preparers who were both indignant and desensitized to the unhealthy food fare that they were serving the school children.

After some thought, I realized that we, as Americans, have enabled this unhealthy eating lifestyle through our consumer driven, two income, sedentary lifestyles. We have become too willing to buy all of our mills "in a box or a bag" whether from the grocery store or the local fast food sit down or drive through dining establishments.

Add to that our rapid disintegration of the "family" at home, sit down, home prepared mealtime and it becomes much more clear to me that it isn't going to be the children who are the ones that need to be won over. It will be all of us adults who are the real enablers.

Jamie Oliver is right to target the school programs and he will continue to face the kind of rejection, parental, school and media haranguing until we all finally lose the guilt and rationalization and accept our overarching role in this problem.

It is a real challenge and while I am hopeful that Jamie's show can begin to change attitudes, it will take a local - state - country-wide focus to improve all of our lifestyles through better nutrition and exercise. My expectations that this will happen are dismally low.

Charles P. Walsh, President, OmniQuest Resources, Inc

Can you go healthy on a school's budget? That's what I'm wondering. BLTs, fries and gravy and buttered corn are real cheap to make and sell (of course that was the menu back when I was in high school, things a 'much' better now). I just wonder if Jamie Oliver is a big enough brand for kids to recognize. Maybe Tony Hawk eating a turkey wrap with no mayo or even Ronald McDonald in a Fila track suit (which I know I mentioned yesterday). The marketing spoils will go to the ones with the deepest war chest. And I think we all what team that is.

Doron Levy, President, TheMortgageMachine.ca

This is just the first skirmish--so many factors work against this. Bottom line, kids did not "decide" to become overweight, it is a lifestyle that is reinforced by school lunch budgets, lack of healthier choices, little understanding of nutrition, media messaging, and more. Changing menus and attitudes will require massive rethinking as a community, as school systems, as a country--and true inspiration to make healthier choices taste and look so much better in the cafeteria lines!

Jamie has opened a door and taken first steps--it will take many of us to move forward in the battle against obesity.

Anne Bieler, Sr. Associate, Packaging and Technology Integrated Solutions

I applaud Jamie's efforts and hope it elevates the subject up the agenda of the present administration. One of the most shocking parts of the show was when kids were presented with a variety of vegetables and couldn't name one of them. How sad is that?

In the absence of any seismic changes to overhaul the NSLP/USDA school lunch budget and program, we should welcome ideas from anyone on how to improve the nutrition of our kids. Clearly, nothing currently is working. Jamie is already successful and rich. I see this as altruistic, not self serving or pandering to special interests. How refreshing.

The future is stark if we don't address this now and the figures make for depressing reading--31 million children eat lunch at school; one or more children in 500,000 families do not get enough to eat; one in three children are obese or overweight; type 2 diabetes is now found in children as young as eight! Anyone remember the recent collapse of the financial industry and the lack of government oversight? An analogy of what's to come if this doesn't get addressed.

'MrChips'

You know the old expression about leading edge and bleeding edge--well, Jamie's probably going to be bleeding after this. But a start is a start. Right now, this show is THE topic amongst young parents in our office. There's a complete buzz about it that's really spreading. That little sample alone gives me some hope that this will be the beginning of a larger trend; eradicating poor food choices for kids and taking the whole "better for you" food up a notch. All the best to him and the kids!

Lee Peterson, EVP Creative Services, WD Partners

I can't see anything positive coming out of a "reality show" and I'd be dubious of any study relating to same; as for demonizing school lunches, though they well may be part of the problem, they're a small part (accounting for maybe 200 of the 700-1000 meals a person would eat in a year). I go along with David, et al, in that you won't see mass changes in dietary habits until they're forced on people...though I'm curious how he'll work this along with his--as he puts it--sacred duty of every retailer to pry as much money out of a customer's wallet as possible.

'notcom'

Our country needs all the help we can get with this issue. Let's bring in cooks and fitness experts from all over the world and promote counseling for those who are food addicts. If we want healthcare for everyone, let's encourage everyone to take care of themselves.

John Crossman, President, Crossman & Company