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Care About Kids? This
Page Is Worth 5 Minutes Of Your Time!
 
Don't have time to read the information below? Click here to watch
a
3-minute news report
with pertinent facts on youth fitness!
Microsoft
Windows Media File (8.6MB)
There is a growing trend in schools nationwide to ban certain playground
activities and to remove particular playground equipment - typically
under the concern of "safety," but also under the threat of potential
injury lawsuits. For example, the playground game "Tag" has been banned
in such locations as Cheyenne, Wyoming; Boston, Massachusetts; Spokane,
Washington; Wichita, Kansas; San Jose, California; and Beaverton,
Oregon. National statistics indicate 34 percent of kids are overweight,
with obesity projected to be nearly 50 percent in the year 2010. But
safety advocates point to different numbers, saying playground accidents
cause 200,000 injuries nationwide each year, and 17 deaths. As a result,
a growing number of schools are even posting signs that read "No Running
On The Playground".
FamilyEducation.com conducted a poll via the Internet which asked the
question, "Should schools be allowed to ban recess?" They
received thousands of responses and 94% of respondents said "No".
Roughly 40
percent of U.S. school districts either have eliminated recess or
are considering eliminating it.
Many schools across America have eliminated commonly accepted
playground equipment, such as swings, merry-go-rounds, tether ball,
tube slides, track rides, arch climbers, teeter-totters, and more.
Some schools in America have banned such sports as soccer and touch
football, all in the name of 'safety'.
There are Internet petitions to ban P.E. from schools, and the
Department of Education's PE requirements call for children in
kindergarten through third grade to get only 45 minutes of PE per week,
55 minutes a week in fourth and fifth grade, none in middle school and
one credit to graduate from high school. Part of this is due to
pressures for academic achievement in the No Child Left Behind
law that keep students at their desks. Some argue that there isn't
enough time in the school day to fit in PE.
The number of
overweight children has tripled since 1980.
Over 10 percent of preschool children between ages 2 & 5 are
overweight.
About 15 percent of children and adolescents ages 6-19 years are
seriously overweight. That is approximately 9 million young people. Another 15 percent (ages 6-19) are considered at
risk of becoming overweight.
Researchers found that lowered self-esteem was associated with
being overweight in girls as young as 5.
Children with obesity, ages 10-13, are reported to have a 70% likelihood
of obesity persisting into adult years.
About 30% of school-age children are at risk for heart or circulatory
disease and premature death as adults.
40% of
children ages 5-8 have at least one heart disease risk factor.
Only
Illinois requires all students, kindergarteners through high-school
seniors, to attend P.E. class. However, more than 40 percent of Illinois
schools have obtained waivers exempting them from state-mandated
physical education requirements.
According to a report by the National Association of Sport and Physical
Education, Hawaii is among the worst states in meeting physical
education needs, primarily because it does not require certified,
licensed PE teachers for schools.
Ten percent
of preschoolers are overweight and another 10 percent are at risk
for becoming overweight.
According to
a 2003 National Survey of Children’s Health, the following U.S. map
shows the percent of 10- to 17-year-olds who are overweight or obese:
“Four-year olds are being sent to our school clinics, out of breath,”
says Paula Elbirt, M.D., medical director for the Children’s Aid
Society. “Can you imagine being sent to the clinic because you are so
obese that running around the playground has you out of breath?
In 10 or 15 years, we’re looking at very young people with
cardiovascular complications unless we do something about this.”
“By age six, obesity already matters and affects the long-term
likelihood of being obese and dealing with health problems like
diabetes, cancer and heart disease,” says Jeffrey Schwimmer, M.D.,
director of pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego.
“There is concern that this will be the first generation of kids to
have a shorter life span than their parents,” according to William
Cochran, M.D., director of the Pediatric Weight Management Center at
Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pennsylvania.
Obese children are already experiencing the kind of obesity-related
diseases - such as hypertension, high cholesterol and type 2
diabetes that were once only seen in adults.
In 1999 the hospital costs to treat childhood obesity hit $127
million, triple the amount spent in 1979.
An estimated 22 percent of American children under age 18 are exposed to
second-hand smoke in the home. It is estimated that 2,000
American young people become smokers every day.
“For every child with diabetes, there are five to ten more kids who are
overweight and may not know that they have insulin resistance, a
diabetes precursor that’s just as deadly over time. What’s frightening
is that insulin resistance is a ticking time bomb for cardiovascular
disease before we even realize a child has diabetes,” says Floyd Culler,
M.D., professor of pediatrics at the University of California, Irvine.
A 21-year-long study of more than 9,100 children in Bogalusa, Louisiana,
found that 58 percent of overweight children (some as young as 5) had
at least one risk factor for heart disease besides obesity; 20
percent had two or more.
A study of fitness among 9.7 million youngsters between the ages of 6
and 17 shows that children are getting slower in endurance running
and are getting weaker.
Since 1980 there has been a 10 percent drop off on scores for
distance runs and an 11 percent decline in youngsters who achieved at
least a "satisfactory" score on the entire test.
A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control showed 90 percent
of schools allow students to purchase snack foods or beverages from
vending machines or at the school store, canteen or snack bar, with
“less nutritious” foods and beverages making up the majority of those
sales.
Overweight children are experiencing higher rates of gum disease,
sleep apnea, asthma, orthopedic and gallbladder disorders.
Adults who were obese when young have double the mortality rate
of those who were slender.
Childhood obesity also contributes to social isolation and peer
ridicule.
Nearly half of young people 12-21 years of age are not vigorously
active.
The
percentage of overweight children between ages 6 and 11 has increased
300 percent in the past 25 years.
Some research
studies forecast that by 2010, nearly 50% of all children in the
U.S. will be overweight.
Children and
teens need 60 minutes of activity a day for their health.
Infants,
toddlers, and pre-schoolers should engage in at least 60 minutes of
physical activity daily and should not be sedentary for more than 60
minutes at a time except when sleeping.
Numerous
studies have shown that active children are more likely to stay fit
as adults and less likely to become obese and develop diabetes in early
adulthood. They perform better academically, are more social, miss
school less often and are not as likely to drink and take drugs.
Lack of
exercise is the primary cause of obesity among kids ages 11 to 15.
Instead of being active, kids are spending more time playing computer
games and watching TV. One quarter of U.S. children spend 4 hours or
more watching television daily.
“Even though heart attack and stroke are rare in children,
evidence shows that the process leading to those conditions begins in
childhood.
Only about
26 percent of high school students get daily Physical Education.
40 percent of high school students and 75 percent of high school seniors
are not enrolled in gym classes of any kind.
“Kindergarten through third grade is the crucial period in which
to teach kids basic movement skills," says Robert Malina, sports
sociologist in Bay City, Texas. "Yet both the amount and the quality of
physical education are lacking.”
“Many schools don’t have either the time or money to fund
everything, and when push comes to shove, most people are willing to cut
physical education,” says Michael F. Bergeron, assistant professor of
pediatrics at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. (This mentality
is so prevalent that, for example, it took seven years for the Louisiana
state legislature to approve a compulsory 40 minutes of PE per day).
An estimated 20% of all cases of new onset type 2 diabetes are in
individuals between the ages of 9-19. Twenty years ago only 2% of newly
diagnosed cases of type 2 diabetes occurred in young people. While there
is no cure for diabetes, diet and exercise are cornerstones to
treatment. Dr. Cedric Bryant, Chief Exercise Physiologist for Americans
Communicating Electronically said, "It has been estimated that diet and
exercise could produce a more than 60% reduction in the prevalence of
type 2 diabetes in children and teens."
Healthful lifestyle training should begin in childhood to promote
improved cardiovascular health in adult life. The following good health
practices should be promoted among children:
 regular
physical activity
a low-fat,
low-cholesterol diet after the age of two
smoking
prevention
appropriate
weight for height
regular
pediatric medical checkups
What Can We Do?
To aid in reversing the above-listed trends, our nation's schools can
support physical education programs and develop after-school exercise
opportunities that anyone can enjoy - regardless of athletic ability.
There should be a greater emphasis on teaching children the inevitable
harms associated with the lack of physical fitness and proper nutrition.
More communities should seek to start youth fun runs, mileage clubs,
fitness mentoring programs, and other physical fitness activities that
get kids up and moving. The solutions to the problem are only limited by
our time, dedication and imagination. However, it is also important to
note that this growing problem is not solely with the children's
population. Despite common knowledge that exercise is healthful, more
than 60 percent of American adults are not regularly physically
active, and 37 percent of the adult population are not active at all. In
fact, more than 108 million adults are either obese or overweight. The
adult population needs to set the pace toward greater fitness in the
United States.
 P.A.C.E.
Run 2006 is an example of one man's way of trying to motivate today's young people
toward greater fitness... expanding their minds on what is possible and
where a healthy body can take you. To turn the tide on the growing
epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States, more people are
going to have to get off the sidelines and into the race to help get our
nation's youth fit for life. Keep this in mind: according to a November
2005 study in “Archives of Internal Medicine,” a moderate level of
physical activity, such as walking 30 minutes a day, lengthens life by
1.3 years. What would you do with an extra 1.3 years? Something to think
about!
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
All statistics
and quotes are from the following: Family Circle Magazine, April, 2004
Issue (in an article entitled “Don’t Let Your Child Grow Up to Be Fat,”
by Norine Dworkin); The Baltimore Sun News; ACE FitnessMatters (Volume 10, Issue 3, 2004, pages
6-9); The U.S. Centers for Disease Control; The President's Council on
Physical Fitness and Sports; The American Alliance for Health, P.E.,
Recreation and Dance; National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey;
National Association for Sports and Physical Education; The Chrysler
Fund Amateur Athletic Union; The International Journal of Pediatric
Obesity; USA Today; MSN Health and Fitness; JustMove.org; www.aahperd.org/naspe/ShapeOfTheNation; and, www.pbs.org/now/science/fit.html.
The information contained in this web site is not a substitute for
medical advice or treatment by a physician or health professional. See
your doctor or health professional to discuss what's best for you before
changing your physical activity. The American Heart Association
recommends that you consult with your physician or health professional
for all questions related to your health.
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