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" &amp;quot;The kids were glued to the TV&amp;quot; The Kahns, Miami Beach, Florida Mom Penny Parham, 39, food service director and nutritionist, Miami-Dade County Public School District Dad Robert Kahn, 45, attorney Sons Jack, eight, and Jesse, five Old Saturday A.M. routine Penny would make breakfast for the family and automatically flip on cartoons. Then she&amp;#039;d head off to a spinning class or her husband would go surfing. Two hours later, the boys hadn&amp;#039;t moved from the couch!  Turning point Penny noticed that her son Jack was not as slim as he used to be. The problem: Jack and Jesse weren&amp;#039;t getting enough exercise. That clicked when Penny heard about a new fitness campaign sponsored by the federal government. Called Verb, the program encourages preteens to become physically active in any way they like. Schedule in slimness Realizing her kids needed regular exercise, Penny signed Jack up for soccer twice a week. And when Jesse, inspired by the Yu-Gi-Oh! cartoon series, asked for karate lessons, Penny happily obliged.  Payoffs The kids have more energy. The parents are getting more exercise (they run laps at the soccer field!), and everyone is having more fun.  &amp;quot;We ate way too much junk food&amp;quot; The Varners, Huntington Beach, California Mom Yvonne Varner, 35, payroll manager Daughter Sahvahn, six  A typical dinner (before) Fast food at least three times a week. Says the single, working mom, &amp;quot;If I had to cook, we wouldn&amp;#039;t eat until 9:00 P.M.&amp;quot; Wake-up call At Sahvahn&amp;#039;s prekindergarten checkup last year, the pediatrician was alarmed: The five-year-old weighed a very unhealthy 80 pounds.  The Rx Mother and daughter enrolled in a program called KidShape, which offers fitness and nutrition classes for parents and kids.  Easiest improvement Buying healthier substitutes for beloved favorites -- potato chips that are baked instead of fried, for example. &amp;quot;I was afraid we&amp;#039;d have to make more sacrifices, but the small changes really added up,&amp;quot; Yvonne says.  Hardest change Making herself cook. &amp;quot;I hate it!&amp;quot; Yvonne admits. &amp;quot;But when Sahvahn&amp;#039;s food log listed five trips to McDonald&amp;#039;s in one week, I knew that I had to do it.&amp;quot; She can&amp;#039;t always get home early, but Yvonne cooks three dinners a week -- with enough left over for two more meals (and sometimes brown-bag lunches).  A year later Sahvahn weighs in at a trimmer 62 pounds (plus, she&amp;#039;s grown a couple of inches). Yvonne, who was borderline overweight, has also dropped several pounds on their new regimen. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/parenting/tips/a16187/breaking-bad-habits-1004/>