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March 29, 2004
Fatty Fatty Two by Four, Can't Get through the Schoolhouse Door
Posted by Nick
New study from the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise on fat kids:
If parents need any more confirmation that the problem isn't so much lazy kids but the many ways American culture discourages movement, have a look at a recent study. Children ages 6-12 in three countries were given pedometers to wear. Swedish boys took as many as 18,346 steps a day, Australians 15,023 and Americans 13,872. The Americans led in weight.
The study was published recently in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, the journal of the American College of Sports Medicine. The researchers point to cultural differences among the countries studied. For example, the study said, Swedish walking paths make it easy for kids to travel on foot.
"Walking paths"?
Now, I know I'm going to sound like a hopeless reactionary here, but I remember not that long ago when I was a little kid, it was assumed -- if not required -- that you would play three sports a year for your school. I know there are still some schools, including high schools, that do this (they are watering the requirements down some, including "sports" like archery in the mix, but at least it requires movement). Anyway, this ain't rocket science (which my uncle the engineer points out isn't even close to being the most complicated science, but that's beside the point...). Why don't we just force kids to exercise more by forcing them to play competitive sports? I know private schools still do this. Can public schools? If not, why not?
Comments (3)
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Nick Schulz is the Editor of Tech Central Station and has worked in media circles and the ideas industry as a writer, editor, television producer and policy analyst. His writings have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Slate, The National Post of Canada, The Baltimore Sun, Investor's Business Daily, The Washington Times, National Review, Reason, Policy Review, and several other publications. He is also, it should be said, a rabid sports fan whose fandom is inversely proportional to his overall athletic ability.
1. Andy on March 29, 2004 11:58 AM writes...
The public schools can barely afford to pay for what they have now in sports, without adding the whole student body to the bill (no commentary on their fiscal mismanagement, etc.. :)
Maybe if the parents let their kids walk to & from school that alone would make a difference.
Permalink to Comment2. David Pinto on March 30, 2004 11:57 AM writes...
I try to get my daughter to walk to school, but between her heavy backpack and violin, she usually gets a ride. In the nice weather she bikes. But I even have a hard time getting her to walk two blocks to a friend's house. (She's not overweight, in fact she's a stick. She does plenty of other activity, including ballet.) So I've experience what Andy and nick are talking about.
Permalink to Comment3. Roland on March 31, 2004 12:24 PM writes...
I've never heard of such a thing as compulsory sports team participation. Granted, I only graduated from high school 8 years ago, but I also attended school in one of the only states that has mandatory physical education classes (Illinois).
I walked almost every day to high school, it being only a few blocks away, but across a very busy road. I think a lot of parents drive their kids everywhere because of the quite measurable increase in suburban traffic levels thanks to environmentalist action against road expansion. I would probably let my kids cross that street when the time came, but mostly because I would hope they aren't stupid enough to get hit by a car and I don't want them to get so reliant on my picking them up and dropping them off anywhere that they are paralyzed without me.
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