Fit Kids

By Jeff Thayer

Almost weekly I find myself in a conversation with a client or friend about the physical condition of children and teenagers today. Many of my clients have asked me about exercise, fitness, and activities for their kids. There is currently an epidemic of obesity in America, not only in adults, but also with children and adolescents. National studies have indicated many troublesome trends for young people in America. The short answer to the question "can my child workout safely?" is YES! Exercise, sports, play, and just good old fashion running around can all help to keep kids fit.

Many people blame the trend of obese kids on several factors, including, increased indoor activities such as TV and video games and a desire to know where children are while both parents work and thus have them in the house rather than biking around the neighborhood. Other factors include learned behavior from adults who are increasingly inactive and overweight, poor meal planning for the family as a whole, and fast food and junk food invading every crevice of young people's environments including school vending machines and advertising. Personally I prefer to keep it simple. I believe that obesity in many children has resulted from the same phenomenon causing obesity in so many adults - eating more and moving less.

There have been disturbing findings from several national studies regarding youth fitness. Although not everyone fits into a study criterion, the trends are undeniable.

Kids are increasingly overweight. The proportion of adolescents who are overweight has tripled from 5% in 1980 to 15% in 2000. This is disturbing because a high proportion of overweight youth end up obese as adults. Approximately half of obese school-aged children become obese adults, and more than 80% of obese adolescents remain obese into adulthood. Sometimes it's difficult to draw a realistic picture from statistics, but allow me to try. If you look at your overweight out of shape 16 year old and nine of his or her overweight and out of shape classmates, 8 out of those 10 kids will be obese adults. If you look at yourself and you are 20 or 30 pounds overweight, the probability increases.

Schools can help play a major role in daily activity levels of kids, but only 28% of teenagers attend daily Physical Education classes. Children and youth need daily physical education (PE) to keep fit and healthy and to help them gain the knowledge, attitudes, and skills they need to engage in lifelong physical activity. Schools are failing to meet this need.

According to a recent report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), only slightly more than half of high school students are even enrolled in PE class. To make this situation more serious the trend of inactivity is more prevalent in older students and in girls. As students get closer to graduation they become more sedentary for several reasons including - fewer gym classes, driving privileges, spending more time eating socially, and playing fewer sports as school teams become more competitive. Children and teenagers spend an average of 4 hours a day doing sedentary activities such as watching television, playing video games, or using a computer. This is obviously a national average, because every teenager I know spends a lot more time than that.

Upper body strength is poor in many children and teens. This may seem trivial, but strong kids make strong adults. Among girls aged 9 to 17, approximately half cannot perform more than one pull-up. For boys aged 6 to 12, 40% cannot do more than one pull-up, whereas 25% cannot do any. Most teenage boys and girls do not engage regularly in strengthening exercise such as weight lifting or calisthenics. They are developing poor habits, the strength situation for adults, isn't much better.

Children and teens today have poor aerobic fitness. Heart and lung fitness is lower than recommended for many young people. One third of U.S. adolescents do not engage in the minimum recommended level of moderate or vigorous physical activity. Approximately half of girls aged 6 to 17 and 60% of boys aged 6 to 12 cannot run a mile in less than 10 minutes. Again, this is a sad statistic, but if your child fits into this category, look at yourself and ask, "Do I fit into this category as well? Am I offering a healthy example?"

Many young people have disease risk factors. Approximately 13% of children and youth aged 12 to 17 smoke with the proportion rising to 35% among high school seniors. Close to one in three children and adolescents have serum cholesterol levels that exceed 170 mg/dl, the level deemed 'acceptable' by the National Cholesterol Education Program. A national survey by the CDC revealed that 63% of adolescents have two or more of the five major risk factors for chronic disease. Risk factors tend to cluster and show tracking from childhood and adolescence to adulthood. This means that every attempt should be made to bring risk factors under control at a young age. There have been studies exploring the genetic nature of risk factors related to heart disease, coronary artery disease, diabetes, and high cholesterol. If you or adult members of your family have any of these conditions, adolescence is not too early to start educating your children and taking appropriate actions.

Fitness experts from the CDC, and the Department of Health and Human Services urge that schools, communities, families, and the media work together to promote physical activity and sports for children and teenagers. Here are some of the central recommendations:

• Provide all children, from pre-kindergarten to grade 12, daily physical education from certified phys ed. specialists.

• Support more after-school programs that provide sports and active physical play.

• Promote access to community sports and recreation programs for all young people.

• Enable communities to develop safe, well-maintained bicycle paths, park trails, sidewalks, and crosswalks, and recreation facilities.

• Implement an ongoing media campaign to promote physical education and physical activity as an important part of a quality education and long-term health.

My recommendation for many of my clients and friends is to do activities with your kids, especially younger kids in elementary or middle school. This is beneficial on so many levels.

How much exercise do teenagers need? Should teenagers follow the same activity guidelines recommended for adults? Here are physical activity guidelines given by a panel of international fitness experts quoted from: "Physical activity guidelines for adolescents: Consensus statement - Pediatric Exercise Science"

• Adolescents should be physically active nearly every day for an hour or longer. The activity can be a part of play, games, sports, work, transportation, recreation, physical education classes, or planned exercise with the family or community. Adolescents should engage in a variety of physical activities, and these should be enjoyable and involve most of the major muscle groups. The experts agreed that this would help reduce the risk of obesity and promote healthy bones. Unfortunately, during adolescence, time spent by both girls and boys in physical activity declines, continuing into adulthood.

• Teenagers should pursue vigorous exercise for a minimum of 30 minutes at a time, at least three times per week. Examples of recommended activities include jogging, stair climbing, basketball, racquet sports, soccer, dance, swimming laps, skating, cross country skiing, and cycling. The consensus is that vigorous exercise enhances mental health, increases HDL-cholesterol, and increases heart and lung aerobic power.

• Weight training is recommended as a part of a comprehensive fitness program for teenager. For Many years weight training was not recommended for children and adolescents because it was thought to interfere with bone growth and promote bone and joint injury. It is now widely accepted that weight training is both safe and effective for children and youth. Still, the American Academy of Pediatrics has cautioned that children and adolescents should avoid intensive weight lifting, power lifting, and bodybuilding until they are approximately 15 years old. Moderate weight lifting by children should be under adult supervision to decrease the risk of injury. Again if you are active and exercise regularly, it is much easier to instill your children with these habits. Weight training is recommended two or three times per week for 20 to 30 minutes per session and should be part of an overall comprehensive program designed to increase total fitness.

The lack of fitness in today's young people is a national crisis that will, as the next generation matures, become a national epidemic of diseases such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. Promoting activity, sport, health, and exercise in today's youth is an investment in their future that will pay for years to come. One of the most effective ways that parents can influence and mold their children's opinions and habits toward a healthy lifestyle is by setting a positive example and making healthy lifestyle choices today. Eating healthy, exercising, and investing time and energy in your own body, helps to teach children at a young age to value themselves, their health, and their bodies.

Exercise for kids can start as simply as riding a bike around or playing any number of sports in the back yard. Weight lifting and working out in a gym setting can also be very beneficial for kids and teens. Not only are these activities generally safe and very beneficial physically, children get to see adults being active and taking responsibility for their own health. You can tell your kids constantly that they should get up from the TV or computer and do something, but your results will be much better when you lead by example.

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Contributing writer Jeff Thayer is the president of JT Personal Fitness in Southampton. He is certified by the American Council on Exercise and is a member of the American College of Sports Medicine. He has been serving the fitness needs of the east end for over a decade. For suggestions on future articles or a consultation, Jeff can be reached at his Main Street studio by calling 287-5156 or via email at jtfitness@hamptons.com.