Children's Exercise Lacking Say Experts

You know we always talk about our OWN fitness and how to stay in shape, but have you seen some of the KIDS these days?  An estimated 60 MILLION kids are classified as overweight…

Check out this short news story about the HARSH REALITY of this growing epidemic…

In a resort published in the Archives of Diseases in Childhood, researchers from the Peninsula Medical School in Plymouth, UK, have carried out research that suggests the 1 hour of moderate exercise a day recommended to children from health experts may not be enough to tackle the rising problem of childhood obesity.
Findings Worth Noting:

• 42 percent of boys and only 11 percent of girls met the government recommended daily exercise level of one hour of moderate exercise.
• Exercise alone had no positive effect on weight control over time.

Does this mean if you send Joe or Jane outside for 10 minutes or 90 minutes and they run around, they could still be having weight issues?  Absolutely.  The value of exercise cannot be underestimated in terms of stress and other conditions but exercise alone is not enough.

“However the researchers did believe that improving children’s diets, which they claim to have “changed markedly” over the last two decades, would be likely to have a greater impact on their overall health and weight.”

Just like adults, nutrition plays a major role in shaping your body.  As the once late and great Vince Gironda used to say “Bodybuilding is 80% nutrition.” And I’m sure you’ve heard that you can’t out train a bad diet?  Maybe your child, niece or nephew won’t be a bodybuilding champion anytime soon but the same principles apply to our kids.
I personally think there’s 3 reasons why kids are becoming fatter today and please, use the comment box below to add your own theories.
Theory #1:  Parents are simply too busy anymore to pay attention to what’s being eaten. Moms and Dads work and there’s a lot more unsupervised children.
Theory #2:  Parents don’t know what to do about it. Using food as punishment, taking away the sweets, making comments about your kids appearance in hopes they will take it upon themselves to eat better or telling them scary facts about becoming overweight is not the connection that will help them eat properly or make better choices as adults.
Theory #3: It’s very easy to make bad choices. While vending machines have improved in schools, it varies from school to school even down to the lunch programs.  It’s very quick and easy to grab what looks like a healthy energy drink, only to read the labels and see it’s loaded with calories and sugar.  Most kids go for taste and don’t pay any attention.  That leaves it up to the schools to determine what’s in the machines.
I’m more of a firm believer in Theory #2.  I’ve found that even the healthiest parents have some of the most unfit kids.  It’s a disconnect between the parent and child because kids just don’t care about that stuff (yet). Most parents I talk to know how to eat properly, they know portion sizes and they can tell a good choice from a bad choice.  But they have little to no idea how to get their kids interested in nutrition without forcing it upon them.  And more often than not, if the parents themselves are not or never have been overweight, they have no idea of the name calling and teasing that can go on at school which can damage self-esteem and lead to a list of other problems.
Most parents struggle with finding REAL SOLUTIONS for their son or daughter’s weight gain.
But there is a solution.  Make it a family effort!
Obesity is not just your child’s problem.  It is a problem that the whole family must be involved in solving.  Your child lives within your family environment.
It’s called “Raising Fit Kids” and if you have an overweight child, you’re going to say “FINALLY!”  It covers

EVERYTHING you need to know to help you kid.  Developed by Jeff Anderson, who has a 14 year old himself struggling with a weight issue, he figured something had to be done.
But here’s the problem according to Jeff…
“A lot of DOCTORS don’t know what advice to give parents about their
kid’s weight problem!
Government organizations and other community services are
trying…but often just offer “tips”.
But “tips” and “doctors’ advice” dished out in a 5 minute checkup
do NOT help parents with ALL of the challenges they face when
trying to help their child.”
Personally I find it odd that the few parents I’ve had conversations with who expressed concerned about their potentially overweight child, when asked what they were actively doing about it, they weren’t sure how to approach it.  When I mentioned a few resources including Raising Fit Kid, they didn’t seem all that interested.
Many there’s a secret Theory #4 that nobody wants to talk about or admit.  Maybe a lot of parents just don’t care.   I hope I’m way off base on that one as being a parent myself, I do care and I hope other parents care too.  This isn’t a matter of just sending your child outside more.  Or taking away the “bad” snacks in the house.  It’s getting them connected early on about nutrition in a different way.  It’s only going to work if learning is somewhat fun or event driven.  Scaring them with stories about diabetes or belittling them about their image in hopes they will step up and do something is not the way to change the eating behaviors an an 8 year old.
Study after study is showing we have a serious issue and it’s not going away.  If you need to understand nutrition but are struggling with how to approach the subject to your child, Raising Fit Kids is worth a look.  Or at least pass it along to somebody else who may be frustrated and facing a potential childhood obesity issue.
I think most parents do care and with busy lives and not enough high quality information with exact steps of what to do, it’s frustrating.  Putting our children on medication to help them with weight is 100% Absolutely Positively Not the solution!
Be Fit, Stay Strong!
Marc David – CPT