Shaq's Big Challenge premiered on ABC on June 26, 2007. Someone had to do it, and who else but an athlete, a father, and an all-around champion? Shaquille O'Neal, the 7-foot-tall star of the NBA's Miami Heat, has spent the last year leading the charge against childhood obesity - first by designing a program for six overweight middle-schoolers in Florida, then by leading the fight into the school cafeteria, into the gymnasium, and onto our TV screens. In talking to the kids who were chosen to participate in the show, Shaq realized that a child's weight problem can begin at school, where physical education programs have been cut and cafeteria options are heavy on the soft drinks and fast food. He took it upon himself to go into the schools to see what was going on - and he discovered that PE programs had been cut due to budget issues and that industrial-size cartons of frozen food are the most affordable way to provide lunch for more than 1,000 students. In visiting the six kids at home, Shaq also realized that family dynamics, poor eating habits, and cultural traditions can all compound the problem. It didn't take long for Shaq to realize that reversing the trends would be a big job.
