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A HOLIDAY ROUTE TO A HEALTHY 2011
By Isobel Kleinman
 Many
lucky families have so much during the
holidays that the partying goes on for
days, and they wind up complaining that
they ate too much. They are probably
right. Even without the holidays tipping
the scales, too many people already
waddle down Main Street. In fact, in
my city, a recent study showed that
only 40% of our school population was
at a healthy weight. It also suggested
that kids are almost doomed if their
parents are obese, because children
of obese parents have double the risk
of obesity.
These disturbing
facts made me want to readdress an older
column and remind you that we can guide
our kids and their families into more
responsible behaviors during the holidays
and thereafter. But, to be successful,
and I quote Hillary Clinton - "It
takes a village." Yes, a network
of classmates, friends, and relatives
must get involved to help break unhealthy
patterns. What better time to address
this issue than just before the holiday
excesses.
The first
line of attack is getting students to
think about what they are doing with
food so that they no longer automatically
consume it without thinking about how
much physical work they need to do to
burn it off. If we help students consider
the effect of their consumption on their
bodies, as well as suggest alternatives,
we can start to eradicate unhealthy
automatic behaviors in a positive way.
This may require something different,
a little homework, and a host of cooperative
family and friends.
If you know
me professionally, you know that I do
not believe in homework in physical
education. In fact, anyone using COMPLETE
PHYSICAL EDUCATION PLANS FOR GRADES
5-12 knows that I am more likely
to give teachers homework then students.
However, I am straying here because
of a worthy goal: bringing in a physically
and socially healthy 2011, via what
I hope will be work but also an enjoyable
experience.
The project
is simple, although if colleagues in
math, social studies, science, health,
home economics, and art get on board
it would be great. Here is the plan:
A few weeks
before the vacation let your students
know that you will be asking them to
document - in photos - the physical
activities they do each day of the holiday.
Right up front, make it clear that there
will be incentives for students to make
plans to take part in their activities
with others. Announce that there will
be extra credit for pictures of them
participating in physical activity with
classmates, family, or friends from
their neighborhood. Then start brainstorming
the types of activity they can do that
will meet their obligation. Be sure
to include things that are not typically
done in a gym or on an athletic field
so students realize the variety of ways
they can be physical.
Before they
begin, reinforce that students do not
have to play a sport or go to the gym
to burn calories. Make sure they understand
that the more they do, the more energy
they need and the more calories they
will burn. Make sure they know that
by increasing the intensity of their
movement, they increase their body's
need for energy (calories).
Students
can choose their activity, but whatever
it is, they do need to exceed the national
health guideline for adults (150 minute
a week) and follow the guideline for
children (at least an hour a day). Remind
them to document all the physical activity
they do so they can add it up at the
end of the day. Remind them that they
can be shoveling snow, cleaning the
house, kayaking up river, mowing the
lawn, raking leaves, dancing at a disco,
skiing, hiking, walking to a friend's
house, playing Frisbee, walking the
dog, taking a swim, sailing their boat
or carrying home some groceries. You
don't care. What you do care about is
that they are doing an hour or more
of dynamic movement a day.
It would
be great to go further, with the help
of the science department, where students
can be guided in figuring out how many
calories they burned in an hour doing
the activity of their choice, and what
intensity they worked at while performing.
Without the science department in on
this, students can get an objective
measure of intensity by checking their
heart rate during their activity. They
would also have to resort to charts
that list many different kinds of activities
along with an estimate of their caloric
cost. (See COMPLETE
PLANS FOR PHYSICAL EDUCATION GRADES
5-12, second edition).
Of course,
students need to know what a calorie
is and where to find the information
that tells them how many calories their
activities usually requires at a moderate
or intense energy level. They also need
it pointed out that some people are
very motivated and perform the same
activity at a higher energy level and
therefore burn off more calories. So,
have them check
the difference and decide what level
they worked at. Remember, for them to
come up with the total calories burned,
they need to do quite a bit of calculating.
Getting the math department in on this
would be just great!
If you can
get the home economics department and/or
health department invested in this project,
they can ask them to document what they
consumed each day, how many calories
it came to, and how many of the calories
were good calories or bad ones. They
can also ask the kids if they were able
to burn off their total daily caloric
intake or not.
The social
studies department can help put food
in perspective by giving students a
picture of how important food was during
different historical
periods, and how for most it was
simply a fuel to keep their bodies going.
It would be great if students imagined
how in past centuries access to prepared
food, packaged candy, and baked goods
was limited or impossible. Or, how it
was to bake a cake
at a fire pit, or what life was
like without cars, elevators, power
mowers, snow blowers and tractors. You
might ask them to imagine having to
walk up the stairs in a six story building
with groceries and laundry, or pushing
the lawn mower in their front and back
yard, or walking to a friend's house,
or having the relative luxury of transportation
by horseback or a bike.
Such analysis
will help students make the connection
that during earlier times food was for
survival, not for pleasure, and that
since there was no Costco, Sam's Club
or BJ's, food was not usually in huge
quantities.
During the
course of the fitness unit students
should learn that, with or without moving,
their bodies' burn calories. They should
learn that if someone does not eat,
their body eventually burns its own
fat, and that after exhausting that
the body starts burning its muscle.
They should also learn that by not burning
off ingested calories the body does
the reverse, converts the excess to
fat and stores it. With that knowledge
in mind, ask students to document what
their family does to move, how many
calories their family consumes during
a normal day, and if it is likely that
they are on the first side of the caloric
equation or the second.
I hope that
this holiday assignment is ultimately
fun, though I expect that it might be
annoying for kids to have "homework."
But, they are getting to choose activities
they like doing, and are encouraged
to do them with others. Armed with digital
photographic capability the picture
taking part of the assignment is inexpensive,
and could be a hoot to record. It could
even turn into something arty. Wouldn't
it be great if the art department chose
movement as a theme for a unit? By the
way, if students have no access to a
cell phone camera and/or digital one,
team them up with kids who have them
and instruct them to do the assignment
together.
In conclusion,
by taking something that the kids do
automatically and bringing it to their
conscious mind, you will have made a
dramatic impact on their life style.
I know. Ever since my kinesiology teacher
asked my college class to think about
what we do when we walk down stairs,
I have not been able to go down the
same way since - and that was years
ago! Bringing the automatic to the conscious
mind is what you will be doing by having
students record their activity (and
consumption). You will be making them
think about what they do (and eat).
Health consciousness goes a long way
to not only making the holiday healthy
and happy, but breaking the chain of
automatic bad behaviors.
Wishing you
and yours a wonderful holiday season
and a healthy and happy New Year.
- Isobel
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