The bad news is that childhood obesity rates have been on the rise and a large number of kids today are going to end up with heart disease and type two diabetes before they graduate high school. The good news is that the LA Times is reporting that
childhood-obesity rates are actually leveling off, aka not increasing — the first time in nearly 10 years.
I wanted to share because it seems that all of our efforts to curb childhood obesity are paying off.
We all know that exercise helps protect grown women against breast cancer, but according to CNN, new
research has found that exercise during the teen years – starting as young as age 12 – can help protect girls from breast cancer when they are grown.
The best results, they say, are when the girl does regular exercise from ages 12 to 22 because it lowers her estrogen levels overall. What's more?
Today I came across this fun site
Kidnetic.com that's geared towards fighting childhood obesity by getting kids up and moving. Being the competitive (and sometimes childish) gal that I am, I immediately played all the games and was drawn to the
fitness challenge.
The fitness challenge is 10 challenges/exercises that you (or your kids) complete while being timed (things like run to the bathroom and back, hop on one leg, etc.).
As health clubs across the nation are looking to expand their client base, you may be seeing something new at your gym: kids!
Yes that's right, while there are specially designed
kid gyms, other gyms have started to open their doors to tots. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that more and more
gyms nationwide are offering services to kids as well as adults.
In an effort to tackle childhood obesity, secondary school students in the United Kingdom will be given practical cookery lessons. That's right, they're going back to the days of home-ec. They're hoping that basic cooking skills will encourage teenagers to cook their own meals and stop their dependency on processed foods.
In an effort to help end childhood obesity many physical education classes are changing their focus in schools nationwide as more
gym teachers strive to teach individual activities that students can incorporate into their lives outside of gym class. Sure dodge ball and red rover are fun, but they're not practical ways for kids to keep moving beyond PE. I think this emphasis on general health (and nutrition in some cases) could really help kids implement skills into their future health goals.
After my recent
poll about mall Santas being forced to lose weight, I was reminded of how in 2005, the folks behind Sesame Street decided that the beloved
Cookie Monster needed to kick his cookie habit. Did you know that "C is for Cookie" has been replaced by the slightly less catchy "A Cookie Is a Sometimes Food"?
The Cookie Monster is not the only one who cleaned up his act: Elmo now exercises, and Big Bird washes his hands more.
It seems that the predicted fitness trends for 2008 are pretty similar to those
we saw in 2007, though this year we're seeing more of a focus on the specifics, rather than large generalizations.
Here are the top
ten health and fitness trends for 2008:
- Educated and experienced fitness professionals. More organizations are seeking accreditation for academic and certification programs for fitness professionals, including personal trainers, which will contribute to industry regulation.
- Programs to fight childhood obesity.
Last Saturday Nickelodeon, along with its sister digital networks including Nicktoons Network and Nick G.A.S., went off the air for three hours in the afternoon in celebration of Nickelodeon’s signature
Worldwide Day of Play. The three hours of dead air was supposed to encourage kids to switch to another channel, watch TiVo, pop in a Nick DVD, go out and play.
What follows the dark period you ask?
As kids returned to school this year, many were faced with healthier alternatives to the junk food previously served. This comes as a result of schools cracking down to try to help the fight in, and ultimately stop, childhood obesity. All this is good, however some fear that school officials are taking it too far.
