Advocacy & Safety - youth woefully inactive

perhaps as a result of the culture of fear?

Canadian youth woefully inactive: report

7% of youth 6-19, 15% of adults active enough to get health gains: StatsCan (http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2011/01/19/fitness-canadians-health.html)


The vast majority of Canadians aren't moving enough to reap fitness benefits, and sedentary living is especially a problem among young people, Statistics Canada reports.

Studies released Wednesday compared the physical activity levels of Canadian adults to those who are sedentary, and found only 15 per cent moved enough to get substantial health benefits. Research involving six- to 19-year-olds found only seven per cent were active enough to make health gains.

The findings, based on the 2007-09 Canadian Health Measures Survey, involve data on 2,800 adults, and 1,600 children and teenagers.

The reports are considered a more accurate measure of Canadians' activity levels because they are the first to be based on actual research, rather than relying on what people said they did. In those surveys, half of adults said they were at least "moderately active" in their leisure time...

"Many adults are getting some physical activity, as 63 per cent accumulate 15 minutes of MVPA at least one day a week. However, this means that more than a third [37 per cent] do not reach even this modest level of activity," Mark Tremblay of the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute and his co-authors wrote.



Wow. 15 minutes of activity 1 day a week. And those are considered the good ones...

186794

That's pretty incredible that the children and teenagers are actually more inactive than the adults. For the kids to be that inactive, I would think parents would have to be actively inhibiting their natural tendency to want to run around, etc, or otherwise facilitating a totally sedentary lifestyle. I'm thankful that my parents let me bike around miles away from home by myself when I was in elementary school, go to the neighborhood pool by myself, etc. Nowadays people seem to freak out at the thought of that sort of thing, even though I highly doubt it's any more dangerous now than it was when I was a kid.

I bet a study with similar methodology would find even higher levels of sedentary people here in the U.S. vs. Canada. Seriously, the vast majority of people I know do not exercise AT ALL. They just drive everywhere.

I was recently a "youth", still am compared to some people ;) My parents really didn't encourage, and sometimes even discouraged, me getting outside and just running round. Only after I moved to college did I think "wow, I can't run for more then five minutes without dying." despite being skinny. That's when I got into cycling :p

Parents should do more to encourage their kids to get physical activity in. Left to themselves, they tend to just stay online all day and post in forums. I imagine a lot of the 7% of kids that are active have active parents.

I was recently a "youth", still am compared to some people ;) My parents really didn't encourage, and sometimes even discouraged, me getting outside and just running round. Only after I moved to college did I think "wow, I can't run for more then five minutes without dying." despite being skinny. That's when I got into cycling :p

Parents should do more to encourage their kids to get physical activity in. Left to themselves, they tend to just stay online all day and post in forums. I imagine a lot of the 7% of kids that are active have active parents.

Kids can't just stay online all day unless their parents allow them to do so and provide them with the means to do it. Same with kids who become obese from eating fast food all the time: they don't get that crap on their own, at least until they're a bit older (and by then, there should have been plenty of time for the parents to instill an actual desire for real food).

If adults want to be sedentary, that's their choice. They are adults, and it's their choice and responsibility. But it's really, really wrong for parents to allow little kids to become obese from poor diet and lack of exercise.

... For the kids to be that inactive, I would think parents would have to be actively inhibiting their natural tendency to want to run around, etc, or otherwise facilitating a totally sedentary lifestyle...

well of course they are! The world is scary, and a good parent just can't let their kids run around unsupervised, can they?

Like with a lot of things, because people don't look at the long term consequences of behavior, and only the remotely, possible, but mostly improbable, negative consequences of behavior, they shoot themselves in the foot.

I too was of the era when a mom would just open the door and let the kids out to play, only to shout out at dinnertime for their return home. I know a couple of other parents that bought the fear mongering and over-protected their kids, and it's looking like they'll be protecting them right into the grave.

I sometimes wonder if I'll out live the group of kids a generation younger because of this.

well of course they are! The world is scary, and a good parent just can't let their kids run around unsupervised, can they?

Like with a lot of things, because people don't look at the long term consequences of behavior, and only the remotely, possible, but mostly improbable, negative consequences of behavior, they shoot themselves in the foot.

I too was of the era when a mom would just open the door and let the kids out to play, only to shout out at dinnertime for their return home. I know a couple of other parents that bought the fear mongering and over-protected their kids, and it's looking like they'll be protecting them right into the grave.

I sometimes wonder if I'll out live the group of kids a generation younger because of this.

No need to wonder. Life expectancy is already being revised downwards, and a lot of public health experts have already said that unless there is a major turnaround in trends, we're seeing the first generation of kids that will live shorter lives than their parents, on average.

This COULD be addressed, but we would have to get serious about it and actually take some serious, society-wide steps. The problem needs to be addressed in a systematic way, or you'll continue to have people basically taking the path of least resistance. If the path of least resistance (and not just physically, but culturally as well) is nearly always to drive everywhere, then people will drive everywhere. If fast food is super cheap due to low taxes and extreme subsidies on its agricultural inputs, and engineered to taste good to people and be easy to eat in the car, people will buy their kids fast food. If schools discourage kids from walking or riding to school via both school siting/consolidation (leading to larger travel distances from homes, often on arterials) and explicit policies, parents will drive their kids to school. None of this is surprising, but we have to somehow interrrupt these destructive feedback cycles and stimulate some positive cycles (no pun intended). We simply can't afford not to, both for the health of future generations and our own ability to pay for things like healthcare and disability.

Culture of fear...no. Culture of entitlement...O HELL YESSS!!

Because of the popular belief (not necessarily fact) that America has the highest standard of living in the world, and we as a society have accepted this kind of trifling, self-destructive behavior, too many others believe they have to do it also to emulate us, and therefore also achieve that 'standard'.

It's all bull----, BTW...........

Culture of fear...no. Culture of entitlement...O HELL YESSS!!

Because of the popular belief (not necessarily fact) that America has the highest standard of living in the world, and we as a society have accepted this kind of trifling, self-destructive behavior, too many others believe they have to do it also to emulate us, and therefore also achieve that 'standard'.

It's all bull----, BTW...........


Let me put it this way; We're firm believers in the philosophy of kicking the kids out of the house and telling them to come back when the street lights come on. We live on a cul-de-sac in a very, very safe middle-class suburban/semi-rural neighborhood. We are literally surrounded by cops, firefighters, and nurses, and there's always good people around keeping an eye on things.

A couple of years ago, I got a call from a neighbor around the corner. She tried to tear me a new hole. Why? Because I allowed my kids ( Then ages 5 and 8 ) to "wander around the neighborhood unsupervised." What horrible crime did they commit? They went to her door and asked if her son, age 7, could come out and play. That's it.

While that's an extreme example, in a neighborhood full of children, *none* of them ride their bikes, except my kids. None of them start up street hockey games. None of them have baseball games. None of them go out into the woods to explore or have impromptu picnics.

They do, however, have all of the very latest game consoles, cell phones, and pre-planned, adult-directed "activities".

My brother's elementary school makes parents walk to the bus stop to pick up and drop their kids off, otherwise the bus just sits there waiting. Not sure what age this policy ends at, but it stretches past 3rd grade. I understand the school wants to avoid liability issues... but can't they offer a waiver or something to parents who don't want to bother? The bus stop is literally a few hundred feet away, and this is an upper middle class, extremely safe cul-de-sac.

Also, they don't check who picks the child up - the bus driver has no idea who I am (I'm certainly not a parent, and I'm usually at college), but I was able to pick my brother up anyways. Since the vast majority of kidnappings are by family members who the child knows, this kind of defeats the purpose.

Kids can't just stay online all day unless their parents allow them to do so and provide them with the means to do it. Same with kids who become obese from eating fast food all the time: they don't get that crap on their own, at least until they're a bit older (and by then, there should have been plenty of time for the parents to instill an actual desire for real food).

If adults want to be sedentary, that's their choice. They are adults, and it's their choice and responsibility. But it's really, really wrong for parents to allow little kids to become obese from poor diet and lack of exercise.

Agreed. Kids learn most of what they know about such things from their parents. Hard habits to break if they're set in an unhealthy lifestyle.

It's probably a generational and technology thing. When I was growing up we didn't have all the technology that a lot of kids have today.

If you wanted to be entertained you either watched television or went outside with friends. Now kids are growing up with the internet, cell phones, personal computers, and anything else. Basically they are being defined by 24/7 access to anything.

... A couple of years ago, I got a call from a neighbor around the corner. She tried to tear me a new hole. Why? Because I allowed my kids ( Then ages 5 and 8 ) to "wander around the neighborhood unsupervised." What horrible crime did they commit? They went to her door and asked if her son, age 7, could come out and play. That's it.

...

That's ALL I used to do when I was a kid. We went out, and played. It was considered... healthy.

Last weekend I was doing some yard work and the kids were playing out front. My daughter (age 6) asked if she could try to jump rope all the way around the block and could I time her on my watch. After she was a few minutes out of sight I felt a twinge of anxiety -- not that anything would happen to her, but that some well-meaning busy body would call CPS.

When I was growing up in the 60s, we would ride bikes, sometimes well into the evening during the summer. If we weren't doing that, we were playing a loosely organized game of baseball, usually played with a wiffle ball. (Side note here: do kids today even know what a wiffle ball is?) Hot days were for swimming at the local public pool, or running through the sprinkler. Hot nights were for standing on the small hill (looked a lot bigger to small kids) in the neighborhood, watching for UFOs, or just general hanging out. Or, maybe trying to catch fireflies.

And today? Parents get into trouble for letting their kids go outside "unsupervised". School districts refuse to allow kids to ride bikes or walk to school. Bike racks are vanishing and extra lanes are being added to roadways in front of schools, to accommodate all the SUVs. Kids seem to live on McDonald's and soda. Oh yeah, there's that Red Bull stuff. I know kids drink it, because I see the crushed cans in the gutter, every time I ride near a school. The Red bull cans, along with the mushed cigarette packs.

Haven't hi-level military officers gone before congress and stated that so many recruits are so out of shape, that it's becoming a national security problem?

... Oh yeah, there's that Red Bull stuff. I know kids drink it, because I see the crushed cans in the gutter, every time I ride near a school. The Red bull cans, along with the mushed cigarette packs...

I work on aircraft, mostly on turnarounds. You wouldn't believe how many empty bottles of Gatorade/Poweraid, and wrappers of Cliff bar/Powerbar are lying around. Like sitting in a seat for 2 hours is an endurance event.

I'm going to give a big "Amen" to everything posted here.

This appears to be one of the few A&S threads where everyone agrees on something. :D :D

I work on aircraft, mostly on turnarounds. You wouldn't believe how many empty bottles of Gatorade/Poweraid, and wrappers of Cliff bar/Powerbar are lying around. Like sitting in a seat for 2 hours is an endurance event.

The reason they might use Gatorade or the like is because airplane air tends to be very dry, and that even if they're not apparently sweating up a storm they can still be losing fluids just through their skin. That and it's probably all they can get after passing through the security checkpoints.

Actually, and this is something of an aside, but does anyone know a good "hydration" drink (preferably a mix that can be purchased in bulk and put in a water bottle) that carries the electrolytes without having the sugars in it? The closest thing I've seen is from the makers of Emergen-C (http://www.emergenc.com/index.php/products/specialty/electro-mix), which only comes in 1L packets. I ask because a lot of times I find I can get dehydrated really easily (say working in a dry office during winter), to say nothing of when I'm actually on the bike, and wouldn't mind something that doesn't replace all the calories that I may have just used.

As for childhood obesity, I have a really easy solution for everyone: an extra hour of P.E. every day.

(Side note here: do kids today even know what a wiffle ball is?)
At 19 I probably don't count as a 'kid' anymore, but it's one of those plastic balls with holes in it.

Guess my 12 year old kid is in that 7%, this summer he rode his bike from Boston to Seattle with Mom and Dad:

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n148/mucknort/DSC00736_0432.jpg

The reason they might use Gatorade or the like is because airplane air tends to be very dry, and that even if they're not apparently sweating up a storm they can still be losing fluids just through their skin. That and it's probably all they can get after passing through the security checkpoints.


water is available past check points, and it hydrates very well

do kids today even know what a wiffle ball is?
My son knows what one is too. It's the ball we used for bike polo, which he played with us when he was 5-10 years old. I think he would be surprised to find out people hit them with bats.

The reason they might use Gatorade or the like is because airplane air tends to be very dry, and that even if they're not apparently sweating up a storm they can still be losing fluids just through their skin. That and it's probably all they can get after passing through the security checkpoints.

If they're also losing as much salt and sugar as Gatorade is dumping into their bodies, their clothes would be a crusty mess.


Actually, and this is something of an aside, but does anyone know a good "hydration" drink (preferably a mix that can be purchased in bulk and put in a water bottle) that carries the electrolytes without having the sugars in it?

The only things I've used are tablets from Camelbak and Nuun. Half a tablet in one bottle, plus plain water in the other bottle, is enough for me. A bit of artificial sweetener, but no sugar, although you'd still need to rinse them out to keep mold at bay.

Water and food is good enough. Adding liquid food like Brawndo... I mean, Gatorade is pretty unnecessary.

Erik,

That's a great pic of your son on a Stratus XP and it sounds like you had a wonderful family trip. The XP is a long beast, but judging from his leg extension in the photo it looks like it worked really well for him. I'm 5'3" and thought the XP might not fit me (I ride a Gold Rush) but seeing this makes me rethink that idea.

Guess my 12 year old kid is in that 7%, this summer he rode his bike from Boston to Seattle with Mom and Dad:

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n148/mucknort/DSC00736_0432.jpg

Excellent!

Erik,
That's a great pic of your son on a Stratus XP and it sounds like you had a wonderful family trip. The XP is a long beast, but judging from his leg extension in the photo it looks like it worked really well for him. I'm 5'3" and thought the XP might not fit me (I ride a Gold Rush) but seeing this makes me rethink that idea.
rnorris,
Thanks, and yes the trip was fantastic. The Stratus XP comes in a size small, which is what my son rode. He loved it and at 5'3" a small would fit you very well!
Erik
http://www.ransbikes.com/StratusXP10.htm