Shaquille O'Neal is on a monumental quest that is more significant than his pursuit of a fifth NBA title. He has put his celebrity on the face of the fight against childhood obesity in his ABC reality show "Shaq's Big Challenge," and he's determined to win at all costs.

The show features six Florida kids, ages 11-14, who weigh from 182 to 285 pounds. They are a unique and whimsical middle school bunch that should have no problem winning the hearts of viewers.

James, a spunky youngster who is a junk food addict, drinks pop the way some people drink Evian. He proudly confessed to nutritionist Joy Bauer, one of the specialists assisting Shaq, that he had never eaten a baby carrot.

Kevin, in Muhammad Ali-like fashion, acknowledged that he may be fat, but he was still pretty and smart. These kids had basically come to terms with their size, but admitted to Shaq the hateful taunts at school were difficult to bear sometimes.

Watching this show thus far, I cannot help but think how 30 years ago obese kids were a rare breed. I can hardly remember a fat classmate, but since the late 1970s childhood obesity rates have tripled.

Today's kids are much less active than those who were in my generation. Instead of playing outside, many children are cozily inside their living rooms enjoying the sedentary leisure of their PlayStations and Xbox 360s. Other couch activities include text messaging their friends and listening to music they have downloaded onto their iPods.

Thirtysomethings like myself got our fair share of exercise skating, playing tag and riding our bikes. Those among us who were lazy at least had to do jumping jacks and run several laps around the gym once a week during PE.

Now with physical education classes being cut in schools across the nation, kids are not even getting the bare minimum when it comes to fitness. Illinois is the only state that still has mandatory daily physical education for grades K-12. 

Last week Shaq met with Florida governor Charlie Crist to lobby that PE be required and to discuss promoting better nutrition in schools. Crist has already appointed the Heat star to his Council on Physical Fitness, and Shaq has enlisted the help of his college coach Dale Brown and his personal trainer Dr. Carlon Colker.

Yet even with the respectable team Shaq has put together, he faces an uphill battle promoting physical education in his state. When he, Brown and Colker visited the middle school some of the kids on the show attend to discuss implementing mandatory PE classes, the principal frankly told them that their effort was admirable. However, could they come up with the $650,000 to pay teachers' salaries that adding an extra hour of PE would demand?

School nutrition will be another huge obstacle as students have access to junk food and sodas sold in vending machines and in their cafeterias. The revenue from these sales often support extra-curricular activities, which is why some administrators are reluctant to enact bans, even though they know many students are eating an abundance of Snickers and Doritos.

The kids Shaq is working with would benefit greatly from taking PE, and if they do not change their eating habits and exercise regularly they are prime candidates for stroke, diabetes, coronary heart disease and hypertension. These health consequences have been relayed to their parents by Dr. William Muinos, a childhood obesity specialist at Miami Children's Hospital, and the parents, obviously, are the main ones responsible for their children's poor physical condition.

The extreme weight these kids are carrying is an early death sentence, and by taking his physical education campaign into the school system Shaq is hoping not only to gain the support of Floridians. He wants the nation to take notice of the childhood obesity epidemic. That's the "Big Challenge" we all face that is placing our children's health in serious jeopardy.