This initiative is a good idea and works to improve a significant obstacle across the state, but its framework lacks weight.

The primary goal listed for MI Healthier Tomorrow is to encourage every Michiganian to lose 10 percent of their body weight. To keep people motivated about achieving their goals, the state will send healthy messages, reminders, tips and recipes — in the form of emails and texts.

But is this enough?

As almost anyone can attest to, getting started and staying motivated are two of the hardest challenges to overcome when trying to live a healthier lifestyle. Although sending inspirational text messages reminding Michiganians to keep working toward losing 10 percent of their body weight is a good aspect to this initiative, it does nothing to address the poor health culture in Michigan.

It’s no secret obesity is a major problem in this state and has been for quite some time.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Michigan is ranked the fifth most obese state in the U.S. with about 31 percent of the population tipping the scales at a weight considered obese.

To put this percentage into perspective, that equates to about 800,000 children and some 5 million adults in this state suffering from obesity.

Instead of telling Michigan residents to exercise and eat healthy, why doesn’t the state implement new measures that make this ideal lifestyle attainable?

Why doesn’t Michigan implement healthier school lunch options and restrict the type of foods that can be purchased with state food aid?

By adopting these changes and making a healthy lifestyle something that is already ingrained in the minds of the state’s youth, programs aimed to promote physical and mental health will become obsolete.

Although MI Healthier Tomorrow is a great leap in the right direction for correcting Michigan’s weight problem, the department’s plan of attack must do more.

Obesity can lead to many long-term health risks and induce growing health costs for the state.

Instead of asking for an array of public and private partners to help fund this initiative, as MI Healthier Tomorrow is doing, we should work to correct these problems now and not pay for them in the future.

This initiative has the potential to be a great step toward correcting a major problem in this state, but only if corners aren’t cut along the way.

In the meantime, we guess a text message will have to suffice.