School Sports and the Obesity Epidemic: A Great Opportunity

October 2007. By all accounts children's health continues a steady decline. It's predicted that youth in the world's richest nation will likely live shorter lives than their parents. Over the past two decades student obesity in the USA has tripled. And among certain ethnic groups obesity and its associated diseases is occurring at even higher rates. The cause of this problem is simple: kids are doing too little, and eating too much of the wrong kinds of food. Solving the problem is the much tougher challenge, especially in an environment that encourages sedentary behavior and unhealthy eating.

While it's clear there's no simple solution, quite evident is the fact that unless we make changes in our children's lifestyles we are headed along a path of national economic, social, and health disaster.

Barring the discovery of some fat-reducing-health-promoting miracle drug, it's obvious that something has to be done to change how children spend their day. And because children spend so much of their day in our public schools, many efforts are underway to modify the school day to increase physical activity.

While these efforts are admirable and should be encouraged, the fact should not be overlooked that it's estimated school-aged students currently get about 80% of their physical activity out of school. This fact should have special meaning to organizers of student programs in the period between the end of school and evening dinner. For far too many students these approximately 3 hours are spent in sedentary childcare settings, or in homes in front of televisions, computers, and video games.

Ironically, during the same 3 afternoon hours the already most physically active kids are engaged in public school after-school athletic programs. And significantly, this positive health promoting physical activity is being funded by public tax dollars paid for by entire communities - including the parents of the less healthy, overweight, sedentary student population.

Exclusive school-based athletic programs are unfair and counterproductive to societal efforts to counter the obesity trend. But perhaps more importantly - and here I'm especially appealing to diehard athletic traditionalists probably choking at my criticism of current scholastic programs - school athletic programs are missing a wonderful opportunity to firmly establish themselves as a core component in solving today's obesity epidemic.

Think about it. If more students had opportunities and encouragement to join in our after-school athletic programs we'd create a physical activity epidemic. Kids would learn to become habituated to regular daily exercise. They'd feel the joy of movement and experience, the benefits of being part of a team. They'd make new friends, and gain increased self-confidence. In short, they'd get everything that we claim benefits those who participate in sports, but that we currently restrict to a much smaller group of already athletically elite.

Imagine what a boost this would give to our athletic programs. Of course we'd need to think about facility, equipment, and instructional challenges. But these could be resolved once it's recognized that this small investment in today's youth will protect all of us from the more threatening financial and social consequences of worsening student obesity.

If public school athletic programs repositioned themselves at the core of our efforts to promote healthy and active student lifestyles, they would win over supporters from all walks of life. And it wouldn't even be that hard; Just a new commitment and some creative problem solving. But most of all, the realization that the benefits promised through being part of school athletic programs belong to all students. Anyone up to the challenge?

Steve Jefferies, Publisher
pelinks4u

Ah, sports… sweat, sore muscles, and teamwork; perhaps these are among the things that enter your mind when thinking about school sports. Some may believe this is the complete list of what can be gained by joining a sports team or enrolling in a physical education class, but is this true? Coaches from around the Kittitas valley in WA state don't think so. They believe there is much more to be gained through participating in junior high and high school sports than just sore muscles and learning rules and regulations.

Randy Affholter, the head football coach for Ellensburg High School, says the biggest benefit players receive from football is learning lessons they can apply to the rest of their life. An example of this is teaching his athletes to be prepared to act on opportunities that arise, on and off the football field. Every Thursday, Coach Affholter conducts an "attitude session" with his players, and talks to them about relating specific football topics to their lives off the field.

Coach Affholter also believes team sports are a great way to teach kids to become more aware of others. During a recent phone interview Coach Affholter stated, "In today's society we are very individualized, and team sports is a way to counter that by teaching kids how to work together and be more aware of other people's needs and feelings." This process helps students learn proper social skills that will be helpful in finding a job, and being successful in their chosen occupation. Learning to get along and help, instead of hinder, your teammates is a lesson that will be used throughout life.

Camaraderie is a big benefit student's gain from sports participation, according to Debbie Nethery, Ellensburg High School girls swim coach. "It helps build friendships that are different than any others you otherwise might have." Coach Nethery believes building discipline is another benefit gained from sports participation. "When doing a sport, you have to have discipline to continue with the practices." The athletes have to have enough discipline to push through practice each day and be committed to attending all the practices. She said discipline will carry over to the academic side of school as well by "forcing them to do certain things at a practice, some they like and some they don't. This teaches them that with school work they just have to do it."

continued top of next column

continued from previous column

Coach Nethery claims playing sports "also helps with time management, because when you have a schedule and many things to do, you tend to be more organized and accomplish more. Swimming, in particular, leaves the body with a feeling of well-being." This sense of well-being can flow to other aspects of a successful life. Considering all the dimensions of wellness, this can be very important to someone wanting more from a sport than just exercise. Coach Nethery also believes, "Swimming is a great life-long sport and/or activity." Swimming is easier on the joints, and this is one reason it can be an activity that aids in achieving lifelong fitness.

Here are some other thoughts:

The article "Benefit of Sports for Kids," written by Diana Converse, reported on the results of a Michigan State University study that revealed students did better in school, and had improved social skills if they participated in some type of physical activity or sport. Another finding was that sports helped prevent drug and alcohol abuse, and that "children participating in sports are less likely to start smoking, and if they do smoke, are more likely to quit." This article has some other great information.

The article "A Sports Doctor's Complete Guide for Parents," by Jordan D. Metzl, M.D. and Carol Shookhoff, Ph.D., reported in depth on the benefits of sports participation for children. Some of the topics discussed included physical benefits (fitness, stress relief, mastery, and healthy habits) and personal benefits (valuing preparation, resilience, attitude control, leadership opportunities, identity and balance, time management, and long term thinking). Please take a minute to read this article. It may help you truly understand what sports and physical education can do for our future generations.

SportzVillage.com presents an article entitled "The Amazing Benefits of Sports for Kids." The article includes a quote from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) that states, "Sports help children develop physical skills, get exercise, make friends, have fun, learn to play as a member of a team, learn to play fair, and improve self-esteem." Read this article.

Many of the benefits gained from active involvement in sports are listed at Ultimate-Youth-Basketball-Guide.com. Here is their list: Youth Sports: 10 Benefits of Participation

	Develop and become proficient at the various sports skills.
	Develop skills needed to socialize with their peers as well as adults.
	Develop independence and confidence.
	Develop a sense of achievement, which helps develop a positive self-image.
	Develop leadership skills and qualities.
	Learn how to cooperate and compete.
	Develop agility, coordination, endurance, flexibility, speed and strength.
	Develop the ability to make decisions and accept responsibilities.
	Learn to understand and express emotions, imagination, and appreciation for what the body can do.
	Develop an interest in continuing sports participation as an adult.

Read the rest of this article. Also, please check out the rest of this amazing site: Ultimate-Youth-Basketball-Guide.com. This site presents ideas and quality information for coaches, teachers, and parents interested in helping their players/students/kids realize the importance of physical activity for life.

Students should be encouraged to enroll in sports. It not only keeps them physically active, but studies show that it increases their academic and social performance. Studies have also proven that sports participation helps kids stay out of trouble - it reduces "delinquent behavior." Parents believe sports teaches their children how to participate in a team event. There are life lessons that can best be learned through personal experience and interaction among peers.

A partial list of these lessons includes learning responsibility and credibility to the team, and that hard work and practice pays off. Parents also realize that sports provide a needed alternative activity to watching TV or playing video games. Finally, parents believe being involved in sports helps their children learn the importance of physical fitness. To find out more please log on to Lessons from Sports.

"You see it every year: a coach becomes a father figure, a teammate becomes a brother, and a passion for the game fuels a drive in the classroom. A helmet and shoulder pads give purpose to a rudderless life," claims Ernest Hooper, a sports writer for the St. Petersburg Times. Students involved in sports are more likely to work harder in the classroom to maintain eligibility for playing in the games. And coaches encourage their athletes to work hard in the classrooms. Thus, athletes not only learn teamwork, they are learning many important lessons from good role models - their coaches. Coaches can model for their athletes how to be positive leaders and outstanding citizens. The rest of the article can be found at Lessons from the game reverberate through the years.

These are just a few of the many ideas and opinions on the benefits derived from participating in school sports. I'm sure you can add many more to this list.

The Real Story of the Ancient Olympic Games - This site was featured on pelinks4u once before, but well worth showing again. It's very interesting.

Sleep more, train better, race faster - What is the key difference between a pro and an age group athlete? It’s not how many hours they train, but more importantly, the quality and time spent recovering, napping, feet up, and hours of deep restful sleep. Read more.