Associated Press - October 29, 2005
NEW YORK -- The kids in the audience had little clue that the man on stage was a fitness legend, but they were enraptured, nonetheless, with the dynamo that is Jack LaLanne.
Wearing a blue body suit and looking impossibly fit and energetic at age 91, the man who invented the TV exercise show exhorted a gathering of children at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum to get on their feet and exercise.
Within seconds he had them furiously pumping their arms in the air, shadowboxing and running in place.
"Kids love to punch," explained his wife, Elaine.
Continuing his half-century old mission to make America more fit, LaLanne appeared at the museum Saturday to declare a "war on child obesity" and present a $10,000 check to The After-School Corporation, a nonprofit company that promotes fitness for children.
He also presided over an exhibition aimed at persuading parents and kids that America's fat problem could be solved if people would only exercise regularly, eat natural foods and stay away from sugary desserts.
"The food you eat today, you wear it tomorrow!" he told the crowd.
LaLanne's message hasn't changed much since 1951, when his TV exercise show began its 34-year run. And, at least on paper, it doesn't sound like anything close to the magic pill Americans are always looking for when it comes to their weight and diet.
But there is something about LaLanne's enthusiasm that gets people's attention, like the time he celebrated turning 70 by swimming across Long Beach Harbor while handcuffed, towing several boats behind him.
Dozens of autograph seekers lined up to see LaLanne after his Saturday performance, and maybe get a better look at him. Could he really look so young?
A little girl asked for his signature. LaLanne poked her belly.
"Too many cakes and pies!" he said. She smiled.
In a more private setting, LaLanne is gruffer about the state of children today.
"Well, look at them," he lamented. "Obesity is of epidemic proportions ... These kids should be eating fruits and vegetables."
He said children should get more education at an early age about how to eat and should be fed healthier food in school cafeterias.
Still, LaLanne said he's hopeful the country is turning a corner. He said it has become easier than ever to find the health foods that have been staples of his diet since the 1940s.
And, he was floored when one man, a chef, told him he'd recently lost 220 pounds.
"Can you believe that?" he said. "Well, that shows you. Anything in life is possible." |
