Posts filed under 'Health / Fitness Articles'
New Book Covers
I am pleased to announce that two of my adventure in exercise book series, starring Joey the Kangaroo and Spunky the Monkey have been published. They are both on sale as of mid-March, 2010. To get a discount on these books, purchase them from the adventure in exercise web site…..Click Here. The books are high quality, and lots of fun for your children as they teach them to read and exercise simultaneously. Visit the web site to learn more.
April 4th, 2010
by Len Saunders
I am proud to announce my new book is for sale. It is called, Keeping Kids Fit. It will not be out until May, 2010, but can be ordered on most major web sites, including Amazon.
New Book Cover
Addressing the childhood obesity crisis that is facing today’s youth, this simple and effective guide to exercise and nutrition provides a comprehensive plan for encouraging children to live healthier, more active lifestyles. Not limited to diet alone, this guide examines the psychology behind sports and how parents can help to positively encourage their children to participate. Reducing the use of technology, keeping healthy sleep patterns, minimizing snacking, and staying hydrated are topics also addressed in this handbook, which helps parents make healthy lifestyles fun and exciting.
Click here to visit the book web site
January 7th, 2010
by Len Saunders
Is your high school student allowed to go out for lunch? A new study in California is stating how many students are leaving their school campus and getting lunch or snacks at local fast food chains.
ABC-TV ( link ) in California stated, “Lunchtime at North Hollywood High School gives some students time to dash off campus for a bite to eat. They don’t have to go far. Across the street there’s everything from burgers, fries, burritos and even dessert. However, a new study reports fast food within earshot of high schools is going straight to student waistlines.”
This is becoming a major contributor to obese students in this area of California. “According to the new study, mainly focused on students in California high schools, researchers at the University of California at Berkeley and Columbia University found that fast-food restaurants within walking distance — 530 feet or less from a high school — resulted in a 5.2 percent increase in the incidents of student obesity, compared to the average for California teens.”
Many of the students do not like eating in the school, as the state their are too many obstacles. So, they go off campus to eat, as they feel this is better than not eating at all. Many of the children don’t want to bag their lunches, so they are just eating the wrong foods.
What is your opinion?
March 24th, 2009
by Len Saunders
I always enjoy reading about the present research pertaining children and obesity. One thing I always look at is the actual study group used in the research. In many cases, it is just random sampling, but in many cases, not accurate in representing all children, cultures, or socio-economic background.
Recently, I read an article ( link ) about the deterioration of fitness levels of children in the state of Texas. The article discusses how as children in Texas get older, they are getting more and more flabbier. I did not question the study group used here. “Based on evaluations of nearly 2.6 million students in grades three through 12, the testing found that fitness levels drop with each passing grade – and elementary-age children perform the best.”
Some of the major findings discussed…..”Results showed that only about 32 percent of third-grade girls and 28 percent of third-grade boys reached the “healthy fitness zone,” meeting performance targets on six fitness tests. Among 12th-graders, only 8 percent of girls and 9 percent of boys met the health standards on all six tests.”
This study and article is important. We need to keep the children motivated with regards to healthy living as the get older. This technology generation can be the first group who will have a shorter life expectancy than their parents.
July 10th, 2008
by Len Saunders
In various areas of the world, there are many children who perform very low in sport or fitness. They are overweight, out of shape, and unhealthy. The question arises quite often, what can we do with them? They are not receiving the exercise at home, nor in school. These children do like even like sports or fitness. What can we do?
An article in ‘The Age’ ( link ) called, “When school sport is just an exercise in frustration” discusses this growing concern, although it did not give many suggestions to this concern.
Physical education in the schools has changed, although this article does portray PE in a negative manner. “School physical education classes can be very traumatic for students who are overweight and those who don’t like sport. They dread the line-up where teams are picked, they get embarrassed standing on the starting blocks in their bathers and they hate coming last at every compulsory sports day, cross country event, time trial and orienteering.”
This type of PE is really in the past, The ‘new PE’ tries to accommodate all children, and make all children feel comfortable as well as confident.
So, why is this article important? Articles like the one mentioned above really support the need for quality, daily PE in the schools taught by a certified instructor.
Later on, the article makes great sense by stating the following:
“”Exercise more” is sound advice but why would any student who found exercise difficult and suffered horribly in school sports classes simply just decide to do more of it? And why is it that if a child is not “achieving at the expected level” in reading writing or arithmetic they are offered remedial classes, special education, catch up sessions and plenty of school-based support. But if a student is unfit or not good at sport, he and his parents are on their own? How do we expect students to follow the mantra to exercise more if they don’t have the skills or confidence to do so? If we are as serious about making fitness a national priority, as we are about the three R’s, then maybe we could start thinking about strategies for helping students who are not good at sport rather than just nagging them and their parents. We certainly did not expect children’s literacy and numeracy standards to increase just by talking about the “three Rs”. Perhaps schools need to offer remedial or more individualized sports tuition. This tuition may not only improve students’ skills and confidence but they may also stop dreading sports day and start to enjoy exercise.”
So what can parents or teachers do to help children in need?
- First off, a teamwork needs to be created. The parent, teacher, or
coach all have to be on the same page. They all want to same result,
to make a children enjoy fitness/sport and to be healthy.
- Find out what the child likes to do and build on it. For example,
if a child enjoys walking because it is easy to do, then build a program
around walking. If they like basketball, try to build a healthy
program around basketball.
- Build up the child’s self esteem. Don’t over criticize them.
They probably do that enough to themselves on their own.
- Try not to pressure them too much. Let them have some degree of
control in the situation.
- Positive reinforcement is a great thing. Compliment them on any
effort they give.
- Keep an open line of communication with the child. Let them know
they can always contact you at any time.
- Stay consistent with their exercise. Doing something once a week
or two will not help much. Try to make a schedule and stick to it.
- Lead by example. A child will not respect you if you don’t
practice what you preach.
March 3rd, 2008
by Len Saunders
Children need the proper amount of sleep consistently each night to lead a productive day. Poor sleep habits can influence their diet, moods, cognitive skills, and ability to carry out daily chores. Most research states that a good 8 to 9 hours a night is sufficient for most school aged children.
The article reviewed today ( link ) is written for adults and their sleep patterns, but many of the suggestions can be related to children as well. The news release from the Tampa Bay Channel 10 news states that “Sleep loss can impair your memory, learning and logical reasoning. A sleep disorder called sleep apnea, can put you at risk for high blood pressure, heart attacks and stroke.”
What causes poor sleep?
Stress – school or job pressures, family or marriage problem, serious illness or death
Too much caffeine, alcohol or exercising too close to your bedtime
Jet lag
Distracting sleep environment – too cold or hot, too bright, too noisy
Some medications – decongestants, steroids, some medicines for high blood pressure, asthma or depression
What can I do to get a good night’s sleep?
Avoid caffeine, nicotine and alcohol before bedtime
Exercise regularly
Use your bed only for sleep
If you have trouble sleeping, don’t nap during the day
Establish a regular bedtime routine that lets your brain know it’s time to sleep
If you can’t sleep, get up and do something relaxing such as reading, to clear your mind
November 29th, 2007
by Len Saunders
We all know that obesity leads to many problems such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, arthritis, sleep apnea, diabetes, and reduced energy levels. Obesity is not so much worrying about one’s appearance, but one’s personal health. New studies are now confirming that obesity is related to poor bone health.
An article from Food USA ( link ) states “… in the November issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the new study found that the bones of people with high body fat were eight to nine percent weaker than those of normal body fat participants.”
Yet, the number of obese and overweight adults and children in the United States continues to rise. “Obesity is currently thought to affect more than 64 percent of the US’s adult population and 16 percent of children.”
Obestiy and children facts….to be continued.
November 27th, 2007
by Len Saunders
Cutting a child’s daily intake of unhealthy snacks by 100 calories a day would have a large impact on maintaining a healthy weight. According to City News (link), “If a child eats an extra 100 calories, which doesn’t seem like a lot, every day for a year then it’s 36,500 extra calories, which adds up.”
Now that Halloween has passed, children will probably start to consume more sugars in the form of candy, which in turn, equals more calories. The trick – limit the amount of candy your child will eat. The parent should be in control of what candy goes into their system. This is a great start in the effort to keep your children healthy and slim.
Snip…..”Another recent study showed that the rate of childhood obesity more than tripled from 1980 to 2004. Approximately 25 million children are now either obese or overweight. Obesity increases a child’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes, a disease normally associated with adults. And dentists also chimed in on the matter, saying that it’s okay to let your kids gorge a little bit on Halloween but you should try and keep them away from those chewy candies that easily stick to your teeth…..snip.”
November 2nd, 2007
by Len Saunders
Through the years, researcher have expressed how important exercise is to brain activity. The bottom line, exercise enhances cognitive skills. There were many doubters of this theory, but now research has proved this to be accurate. An article in the New York Times ( link) states, “Now an expanding body of research shows that exercise can improve the performance of the brain by boosting memory and cognitive processing speed. Exercise can, in fact, create a stronger, faster brain.” This is just another reason why the childhood obesity epidemic facing our youth is a major problem, and the need for daily, quality physical education in the schools. This article should really motivate parents to get their children up and moving.
The article went on the disprove a myth…”Conventional wisdom had long held that animal (and human) brains weren’t malleable: after a brief window early in life, the brain could no longer grow or renew itself. The supply of neurons — the brain cells that enable us to think — was believed to be fixed almost from birth. As the cells died through aging, mental function declined. The damage couldn’t be staved off or repaired.” Scientists have been finding more evidence that the human brain is not only capable of renewing itself but that exercise speeds the process. As we know, many body changes take place during exercise, but the extra blood flow to the brain help increase the production of neurons, allowing brain cells to multiply at a faster rate.
The study also stated that this finding not only affects adults, but children….Snip…..Other University of Illinois scientists have studied school-age children and found that those who have a higher level of aerobic fitness processed information more efficiently; they were quicker on a battery of computerized flashcard tests. The researchers also found that higher levels of aerobic fitness corresponded to better standardized test scores among a set of Illinois public school students. The scientists next plan to study how students’ scores change as their fitness improves……Snip
September 27th, 2007
by Len Saunders
One of my programs is called the 2:1 Club, which is an effort to reduce technology in young children’s lives. I have said for years that technology is great, but too much of it is contributing to the obesity epidemic facing the youth of the world. Children become sedentary when a lot of technology is in their lives, as well as creating a low attention span. This eventually will have a negative influence on children in school, recreation, sports, and life in general.
I just read an article ( link ) on Yahoo! News called, “Childhood TV viewing can cause teenage problems.” The article states “Watching television more than two hours a day early in life can lead to attention problems later in adolescence…..The roughly 40 percent increase in attention problems among heavy TV viewers was observed in both boys and girls, and was independent of whether a diagnosis of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder was made prior to adolescence.”
The article continued by stating “The children aged 5 to 11 watched an average of 2.05 hours of weekday television. From age 13 to 15, time spent in front of the tube rose to an average of 3.1 hours a day. Those who watched more than two hours, and particularly those who watched more than three hours, of television per day during childhood had above-average symptoms of attention problems in adolescence…..”
This is an issue to be concerned with. Whatever habits a young child starts early in life will most likely continue into adolescents. The parents need to monitor television as well as other technology. Encourage them to get outside and play. Be a healthy role model, and make the time to have family activities. Lastly, pay attention to the commercials your children are watching. A large majority of them are for sugary or unhealthy foods.
Please keep in mind, this article does not suggest that every child with an attention problem is watching too much TV! With that being said, it is just a good idea to monitor what and how much TV your children watch!
September 20th, 2007
by Len Saunders
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