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Cancer Prevention
Cancer is a group of different diseases characterized by abnormal or uncontrolled cell growth that can invade normal body tissues. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in America. Even though there are a number of what might be considered nonmodifiable risk factors, there are significant modifiable risk factors. Lifestyle, which includes diet and physical activity habits are modifiable risk factors. The American Cancer Society has declared that more than 2/3 of deaths from cancer can be avoided by applying what researchers have learned about prevention and early detection strategies. For more information on cancer in adults and children link to the American Cancer Societies web page.
Employment Opportunities
Jobs for K-12 Health Educators! Looking for a new job? Keeping your eyes open for a new opportunity? Considering a move to another state or region? Search the job listings by state at the New York University Health Education Professional Resources HEDPR site. They have job listings by state and by posting date.
Cooking With Children
Teaching children in the classroom and the home about cooking is a great way to introduce sound nutrition concepts and encourage proper eating habits. Here is a link to a page that has been created to help teachers and parents involve young children in cooking. There are a number of ways to incorporate cooking into lesson plans on nutrition. At this site you will find some very clever recipes that do not require a kitchen or heat. Take a look at it and have some fun.
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Know Your BMI
Body Mass Index (BMI) has correlated with body fat. If your BMI is too high it
could be a sign of excess body fat, which has been linked to a number of chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers. Use this handy BMI calculator to find your own BMI. It can
also be used for children. The following site links to the online
calculator in the "Popular Topics" section and information about BMI's for children and adults.
- BMI Calculator
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Life is a series of experiences, each one of which makes us bigger, even though it is hard to realize this. For the world was built to develop character, and we must learn that the setbacks and grieves which we endure help us in our marching onward.
-- Henry Ford (1863-1947) .
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Children and Television
I first became interested in the impact that television has in the life of a child when I became a parent myself. Not only was I concerned about the content of the material my children would be viewing, I was also concerned about the potential for television viewing becoming a routine sedentary habit. While it is clear that children are the most active segment of the population, it is also obvious that children are primarily inactive when they are watching television. During the past 50 years television has played an increasingly greater role in most peoples lives. Nielsen Media Research indicates that adults spend more than 4 hours a day watching television. American children spend more than 3 hours daily watching television. If you were to calculate that over a one year period, you would find that children spend more time watching television than they do in school. It is the most time consuming activity for children second only to sleeping.
Some research has found that while physical activity is limited at school, except for physical education classes and occasional recess periods, the time immediately after school is when children watch a considerable amount of television. During this time parents can help to provide active play opportunities and limit television watching. Evening hours are also a time when children watch television. This could also be a time for parents to provide opportunities to participate in physical activity. Because
activity patterns in the early years have been shown to track into adulthood, a worthwhile goal would be to provide active play opportunities for children,
which in-turn could lead to more active lifestyles for both children and their
parents. If you are interested in discussing this topic further or have ideas to share please e-mail me. I will publish your comments in a later issue.
Ron Hager
Health and Fitness Section Editor
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What Can You Do?
There are a number of great resources that give ideas for responsible television watching.
Here are two links that give good information on television viewing and the impact that it can have and ideas for modifying behavior:
- Helping Children Responsibly Watch TV and Other Media.
Leonard A. Jason, Ph.D.,
DePaul University.
http://condor.depaul.edu/~ljason/
- Children and Watching TV. American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
http://www.aacap.org/publications/
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Please let your colleagues know about PELINKS4U, and remember you can catch up on a year's worth of news in our PE Archives.
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Nutritional habits can have a strong influence on body fat and obesity in adults and children. The American
Heart Association (AHA) has some great information on this topic. One of the main recommendations is that small permanent changes are more effective than short-term changes that cannot be maintained. Additional suggestions include:
- Reducing dietary fat is the easiest change. Highly restrictive diets that forbid favorite foods are likely to fail. They should be limited to rare patients with severe complications who must lose weight quickly.
- Becoming more active is widely recommended as a way to lose weight. Increased activity is common in all studies of successful weight reduction. Create an environment that encourages and supports physical activity.
- Parents' involvement in modifying obese children's behavior is important in losing weight. Parents who model healthful eating and activity habits can have a significant positive influence on the health of their children.
To learn more about AHA guidelines, link to the Heart and Stroke A-Z Guide on their website.
Nutrition curricula should focus on promoting and teaching children related to the following goals:
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Expand the variety of foods in their diet.
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Add more fruits, vegetables, and grains to the foods they already eat.
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Eat foods in their diet that are lower in fat.
According to the USDA, the need for these changes is illustrated by the fact that:
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35% of elementary school-age children eat no fruit, and 20% eat no vegetables on a given day;
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27% of children ages 6-11 are considered obese;
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and 90% of children consume fat above the recommended level.
The American Dietetic Association is also a great resource for information that can be used for classroom instruction.
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If you have ideas, comments, letters to share, or questions about particular topics, please email one of the following Section Editors:
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Help to support quality physical education and health education by contributing to this site.
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