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This past week we ran our 14th annual PE Summer Camp at Central
Washington University. More than 120 children entering grades 1-8
participated in a week of varying physical activity.
They ran and jumped, threw and caught balls, learned some hockey
and lacrosse skills, rock climbed, hiked, swam, river rafted, shot
arrows, participated in fencing and yoga, bowled, skated, and much
more.
Motivating us to host this program has been the observation that
many of the participants are not highly skilled young athletes.
Many are slightly overweight and do not participate in organized
school or recreational sport programs.
What excites us is the fact that they almost all campers seem interested
in participating in physical activities. Sure they complain when
they get tired but they mostly keep going from 08:30 in the morning
until 8:00 at night for 5 days straight.
We now have assistant instructors who for years participated as
campers and are now in college. Interestingly, many of these folk
never participated in school athletics.
I think we sometimes overlook how many young people enjoy physical
activity but do NOT want to be highly competitive or play team sports.
Unfortunately, it seems that most of our adult-organized programs
for children focus excessively on competition and score keeping
rather than participation.
For some children this may be fine, but for others it turns them
off of participation. With few other alternatives it's no wonder
they end up sitting and choosing sedentary activities.
As you will read in this issue, alarm about childhood obesity continues
to grow. As physical educators our attention needs to be especially
focused on physically "at-risk" kids - young children
who lead sedentary lifestyles.
Let's remember that children who are physically inactive not only
face increased health risks. They are unable to play alongside their
peers and eventually get left out of activities. Like smokers who
are driven together because no one else wants to be around them,
physically inactive children miss out on activities that foster
friendships and give opportunities to develop social skills. They
face a sad future.
Be sure you stay active and have a great and active summer
PE Links4U Staff
Health and Fitness Section Editor
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Coke and Pepsi Focus on Promoting Fitness
Soft drink giant Coca-Cola Co. accused in recent years of helping
to fuel rising childhood obesity in the United States, unveiled
on Tuesday a campaign designed to make adolescents more physically
fit.
The world's No. 1 soft drink company said the campaign, dubbed
"Step With It," would challenge about 50,000 middle school students
across the nation to incorporate physical activity into their
lives during the coming school year.
Developed in partnership with the National Association for Sport
and Physical Education, a nonprofit group representing fitness
professionals, the program encourages kids to take a minimum of
10,000 steps a day to maintain good health.
Those who participate will be given a special device to track
the number of steps taken, Coca-Cola said. The program will be
introduced in schools in Atlanta, Charlotte, Detroit, Los Angeles,
Minneapolis, Philadelphia, San Antonio, Seattle and Washington,
D.C.
Coca-Cola's main rival, PepsiCo Inc. (PEP), also said it was preparing
to unroll a national campaign aimed at encouraging adolescents
to participate in more after-school physical activities.
PepsiCo spokesman Bart Casabona said the company's "Get Active,
Stay Active" program targeted students in grades 7 through 12
and would be backed with a noncommercial advertising campaign.
Coca-Cola's pledge to help students become healthier comes slightly
more than a year after the company agreed to start selling water,
juices and other nutritional drinks in school vending machines
and cafeterias.
Health experts had lambasted the soft drink maker and its rivals
for aggressively marketing sugar-laced soft drinks in schools
and contributing to a rising number of diabetes diagnoses and
other health problems in U.S. children.
A report released by the U.S. surgeon general late in 2001 found
that twice as many children and three times as many adolescents
were overweight compared to 1980. Last month, US President George
W. Bush urged all Americans to get more exercise and eat less
junk food.
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Concerns about Growing Childhood Obesity Spur
National Physical Activity Campaign
"Too many of our children are sitting around, and their inactivity
is leading to serious health problems such as overweight, obesity
and diabetes," says Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy
Thompson. "Our kids need to be kids and be active. We need to
get our children away from PlayStation and onto the playground."
The US government is launching a $190 million national campaign
to promote physical activity and other positive activities for 9-
to 13-year-olds. It's called "VERB: It's What
You Do." The message is simple: Verbs are active and kids
should be too, so pick your favorite verb - run, skip, swim, dance,
play, volunteer, join clubs - and do it.
Mike Greenwell of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
which spearheaded the campaign, says organizers wanted to make it
fun for kids. "We learned when we were planning the campaign that
kids can smell a lesson a mile off. If they think it's a campaign
to tell them what to do and what not to do, they won't be interested."
The project comes amid these startling statistics:
- In 1999, 13% of children and adolescents were overweight.
- One-fourth of children in America spend four hours or more a
day watching television, and only 27% of high school students
engage in moderate physical activity at least 30 minutes a day
on five or more days of the week.
- Three-quarters of overweight and obese 9- to 13-year-olds do
not change their habits and remain overweight and obese in adulthood.
- Type 2 diabetes is on the rise in young people, a trend unheard
of a decade ago.
Short TV commercials promoting the VERB campaign started to air
in June. The current ads feature action verbs morphing into a child's
form. Longer ads out this fall will show real kids doing activities.
Also coming this fall: ads on billboards, the radio and in print,
including magazines such as Teen People and Sports Illustrated for
Kids. The TV commercials for kids will air after school, during
prime time and on weekends during children's programming. Print
ads aimed at parents will be released this fall.
The campaign also includes stops in at least nine cities on Nickelodeon's
Wild and Crazy Kids Tour. There will be school-based promotions
across the country, with messages on book jackets, school lunch
menus and Channel One. America Online has developed a VERB
NOW web site for the effort. Special commercials and promotions
have been created for children from various ethnic backgrounds.
Physical educators are especially encouraged to participate in
the program. Additional information can be found on the PE
4 Life web site.
Click here
to learn more
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Economic Burden of Obesity in Youths
Aged 6 to 17 Years: 1979-1999
Published in the journal "Pediatrics" the researchers
reported that among all hospital discharges, the proportion of
discharges with obesity-associated diseases has increased dramatically
in the past 20 years.
This increase has led to a significant growth in economic costs.
These findings may reflect the impact of increasing prevalence
and severity of obesity. Diet and physical activity interventions
should be developed for weight loss and prevention of weight gain
in youths.
n the study, CDC researchers found that obesity-related annual
hospital costs increased threefold over the 20-year period from
1979 to 2000. During that time, annual hospital costs for obesity-related
conditions in youths aged 6-17 increased from $35 million to $127
million (in 2001 dollars).
Overall in the United States, physical inactivity and unhealthy
eating contribute to obesity, cancer, cardiovascular disease and
diabetes, which are responsible for at least 300,000 deaths each
year.
To read the complete article click here.
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to share, or questions about particular topics, please email one of
the following Health & Fitness Section Editors:
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Stop Smoking Resources Available
This CDC hosted web site includes a variety of resources for teachers
interested in promoting tobacco-free lifestyles.
The Tobacco-Free Sports Playbook is
a free resource designed to help school administrators, state and
local health departments, certified athletic trainers, and coaches
to reach out to young people with messages about the importance
of choosing a healthy, active, and tobacco-free lifestyle.
The Playbook describes a step-by-step game plan for incorporating
sports into tobacco-free activities, including
- Important questions to consider when formulating a tobacco-free
policy.
- How to find and secure winning professional athletes to serve
as role models.
- Key communication tips for working with partner organizations.
- Where to find sponsors and media support.
- How to set standards for evaluating the program.
Poster are also available featuring celebrity athletes.
You can download copies from the CDC web
site
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National Center for Bicycling & Walking
Publishes New Community Design Guide for Public Health Practitioners
A new 48-page guide entitled "Increasing Physical Activity
Through Community Design" focuses on how to make communities
more bicycle-friendly and walkable. It was developed under a grant
from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
"We know that a wide range of health problems are associated
with low levels of physical activity," said Bill Wilkinson, NCBW's
executive director. "Indeed, it is estimated that physical inactivity
and obesity are contributing factors in 300,000 to 500,000 deaths
each year in the United States. According to professionals in
public health, one of the most effective 'interventions' is regular,
routine physical activity such as bicycling and walking."
Wilkinson added that the new guide is designed to provide public
health practitioners and others an introduction to increasing
physical activity through better community design, specifically
by making it easier and safer to bicycle and walk.
The guide presents an introduction to community design issues,
and describes seven kinds of projects that can help create more
bicycle-friendly and walkable communities. It also discusses how
such projects get funded, and presents an array of resources to
help with implementation. It is available now as a portable document
file (.pdf) on the NCBW's
web site
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