As an overweight kid, I experienced living in the shadows: the shadows of my “friends” picking sides on the playground for basketball games, and never picking me. The shadows behind the open doors of the gym lockers where the girls laughed and the boys made rude comments. The shadowy side of myself, never allowing my light to shine, who would want to draw attention to this mass of meat? The emotional pain of being the “fat girl” far exceeded my physical limitations.
But in high school I grew up, lost the baby fat, and played on the girls’ basketball team quite skillfully. Guys still make rude comments about my body, but now they were of a different nature. I was at a normal weight, feeling energetic and healthy. For a while at least.
Adulthood brought back the battle of the bulge. And it ushered in a depth of physical pain and discomfort. I’m not sure how I got over it when I look back on those years. Two decades of serious illness followed the birth of my children. Healing required a lot of focused attention, competing for time with my precious children and of course healing and recovery time with alternative therapies because traditional methods were not working. What was wrong with me? A lot. Problems with the gallbladder: it had to be removed. liver problems; bad digestion; insulin resistance. Childhood obesity increases the risk of health problems in adults. I know firsthand.
My mother showed that she loved her children by feeding them too many foods rich in Polish and Italian food; too many desserts. But we always played for hours outside, during the day walking through the forest collecting leaves, branches, flowers to make things; at night running wild catching fireflies in the summer or playing tag after dinner on school nights. We would go outside, rain or shine, no matter how hot or cold, there was always some time to move around in the backyard, even if it was just five minutes to throw dry bread to sparrows foraging in the five feet of an unexpected spring snowstorm. I am so thankful now that exercise was in the equation of my childhood. As an adult, I don’t hate physical movement like many of my friends. I hope that. It’s what saved me.
Through my own tenacity and good fortune in finding the right healthcare providers, I am now blessed with excellent health. Although I’ll never be a size 8, I can at least walk or jog two to three miles a day, lift weights, do yoga and Pilates, and take the occasional five-mile walk. I can even bend down and touch my toes, something some kindergartners can’t even do.
That’s right. I was surprised when a colleague recently told me that 22 of her 27 kindergartners couldn’t touch their toes. Imagine little bodies of five years old and struggling not to be able to do this simple act. tragic.
Many of today’s kids eat too many of the wrong foods as a factor in keeping them out of shape: fast food packed with calories and lacking in nutrition is a distressing example. But another significant factor in the current alarming rise in childhood obesity is the amount of time young people spend sitting in front of a television, video game or computer. They don’t move enough throughout the day.
The average modern child spends nearly 53 hours a week with television, movies, the Internet, cell phones, and video games. By comparison, children spend an average of 17 hours a week with their parents and 30 hours a week at school. (1)
Investigating childhood obesity, the researchers found that in 173 studies over the past three decades, 86% found a statistically significant relationship between increased media exposure and an increase in childhood obesity. 82% of studies concluded that more media hours predicted weight gain over time. A longitudinal study of 5,493 children reported that those who spent more than eight hours watching television per week at age three were significantly more likely to be obese at age seven.
Another major study showed that a substantial percentage (nearly 36%) of US preschoolers exceeded the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommendation to limit media time to 2 hours or less per day. (Please note: I think the AAP should have a stronger recommendation for preschoolers by calling for no more than 30 minutes of daily TV/DVD/computer use.) The study concluded that interventions to prevent and treat obesity in preschool children by reducing television/video viewing is warranted. (3)
However, by the age of 12 months, the average infant watches television for about an hour per day, despite the AAP recommendation for no screen time before age 2.
This is all sobering news. However, there is hope on the horizon if parents take this information to heart. The daily choice parents make each day begins to add up to many positives for children’s optimal health when screen time is reduced and other appropriate activities are increased.
Making a change, even a small step in the right direction, goes a long way toward improving children’s well-being and their future health as adults as well.
Parents, start today to reduce screen time and do more of:
1. Eat together as a family.
Kids make healthier food choices when they eat with mom or dad! One research study even found that families who dine together with the TV off eat more fruits and vegetables than those who eat separately or dine together with the TV on. (7)
2. Exercise together as a family.
Family bike rides, walks, walks in a local park, or other movement activities not only support the movement needs of children or adolescents, but also provide powerful models for valuing exercise as an integral part of daily life. .
3. Provide your child/adolescent with opportunities to exercise.
Maybe it is not safe for children to go out alone? Jumping rope in the garage, bouncing on an old trampoline, or shooting hoops right outside your kitchen window with the lights on are all ways to think “outside the fear box,” keeping kids safe while also encouraging movement. But also give kids and teens outdoor time however you can. A great place to get good ideas is Green Hour dot org. Sponsored by the Wildlife Foundation, this site describes itself as “the parent’s place for nature, play and learning” with lots of great ideas for outdoor family activities. Yes, we can use screen machines and screen time in the service of our children’s optimal health, if done sparingly and wisely.
Copyright, Gloria DeGaetano, 2010. All rights reserved.
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References
1. The Media and the Health of Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review, Conducted by the Yale University School of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health and California Pacific Medical Center, November 2008.
2. Ibid.
3. “TV Viewing, Computer Use, Obesity, and Adiposity in US Preschoolers,” Jason A Mendoza1, Fred J Zimmerman, and Dimitri A Christakis,
International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, September 25, 2007. http://www.ijbnpa.org/content/4/1/44
Copyright, Gloria DeGaetano, 2010. All rights reserved.