Empowering Healthy Kids Blog

Researchers at San Diego State University have come up with a recommendation for keeping fit - 100 steps per minute for 30 minutes:

A US team reached the figure after measuring the body’s oxygen demand in some 100 people walking on a treadmill.

They wrote in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine that a pedometer alone was not enough to gauge exercise as it gave no data on intensity.

US and UK guidelines urge half an hour of moderate exercise five days a week.

But there is often confusion as to what constitutes moderate exercise, and the amount of gardening, housework or walking needed to confer health benefits.

Researchers at the San Diego State University based their conclusions on exercise tests given to 97 healthy adults who had an average age of 32.

In general, men needed to walk at a pace of 92 to 102 steps per minute to achieve a moderately intense workout for their hearts. The range for women was between 91 and 115 steps per minute.

“Because health benefits can be achieved with bouts of exercise lasting at least 10 minutes, a useful starting point is to try to accumulate 1000 steps in 10 minutes, before building up to 3000 steps in 30 minutes,” said Simon Marshall, lead researcher.

While this was a study targetted at adults, I hope that this research will spur further work examining targets for children.

Applications are now open for Fresh Food Kids Community Grants (receive up to $5,000). Apply here:

Via Science Daily:

With 17 percent of US children between ages 2 and 19 classified as obese, new research shows that parents may not be recognizing their own children’s risk factors. A new study shows that parents are likely to misperceive their child’s weight – especially those parents who are overweight themselves.

This reminds me of a NewsRadio segment I was listening to the other day. A children’s health expert (I forgot his name) and he made the argument that it’s a case of “monkey see, monkey do.” A child will pick up the unhealthy habits of parents. The best way is to help your child is to lead by example.

This looks interesting:

The IronKids National Event Series was started in 1985 and has seen more than 40,000 participants in its history. The series, with a reputation as the premier event series in the U.S., recognizes Olympian, Hunter Kemper, and seven-time Tour de France Winner, Lance Armstrong, as past champions.
Ages 6-15
The IronKids Series will target 600 - 800 participants per event between the ages of 6 and 15 years old. Children will compete in age-appropriate distances with an emphasis on fitness, fun and safety.
IronKids Legacy Program
With charitable donations raised through The Ironman Foundation, IronKids will build a fitness-oriented play system in schools and/or public parks in the host city of IronKids races across America.
An estimated one-third of American children and adolescents are obese or at risk of becoming obese. IronKids will build a fitness-oriented play system in school and/or public parks in the host cities of the IronKids races. To assist us, we will enlist Landscape Structures, the premier provider of innovative playground equipment. To ensure the activity and use of the playground, IronKids is in the process of forming a partnership with a non-profit organization that will implement wellness practices in the school systems involved in the IronKids Legacy Program. The objective of the school program is to educate students on healthy nutrition practices and increase physical activity using the IronKids Playgrounds.

(Hat Tip: EmpowHer)

We’ve seen previous studies that show the fitter the student the better academic scores they achieve. Now more research:

School children who have a daily recess break behave better and are likely to learn more, according to a large study of more than 10,000 third-graders.

Researchers studying US girls and boys, 8 to 9 years old, found that a break of 15 minutes or longer was associated with better classroom behaviour (as rated by teachers).

But many kids now have less free time and engage in fewer physical activities at school because, in response to the US ”No Child Left Behind Act” of 2001, many school districts cut time allotted to recess in order to focus on reading and math.

The trend especially affects kids who are black, come from poor families, and go to public city schools.

The researchers concluded that “recess may play an important role in the learning, social development, and health of children in elementary school.” They encourage parents to learn about physical activity and recess programs when selecting a school for their child.

For kids, exercise means playing and being physically active. Kids exercise when they have gym class at school, soccer practice, or dance class. They’re also exercising when they’re at recess, riding bikes, or playing tag.

You might not be able to ensure your kids get a daily recess break at school, but you can make sure they’re active at home. Encourage kids to do a variety of activities so that they can work on these three elements:

1. Endurance – developed when kids regularly engage in aerobic activity
2. Strength – push-ups, stomach crunches, pull-ups, climbing, and wrestling all help tone and strengthen muscles
3. Flexibility – stretching exercises help improve flexibility, allowing muscles and joints to bend and move easily through their full range of motion

How much is enough? According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), all kids 2 years and older should get at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise on most, preferably all, days of the week.

I think that the number of activity-based games will increase:

SCOTTISH health and education experts last night backed calls for interactive video games, such as the Nintendo Wii, to be used as a key weapon in the fight to tackle obesity among children.
Sir Liam Donaldson, the UK government’s chief medical officer, yesterday recommended in his annual report that children be given gaming systems as part of a strategy to address sedentary lifestyles.

He said that, although the more traditional video games such as PlayStation can be a major cause of overweight and obesity in children and young adults, interactive multimedia games such as Sony EyeToy and Nintendo Wii Sports can raise the heart rate and increase the number of calories burnt by 42 per cent – offering a way of providing the recommended daily physical activity for children in their homes.

I will be running in the 14.7km Run For The Kids event on April 5, 2009 for the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal.

Please join in! Or feel free to donate to Team Zippeddy at  http://www.everydayhero.com.au/zippeddy

One of the constant debates that I have is the role of government in childhood obesity. In my view, I think that solutions to this problem will occur from the “bottom up” - from local communities, entrepreneurs, teachers and most importantly the parents and children themselves. It’s best that government regulations and mandates are kept out of the way from individuals finding their own way.

It is thus unfortunate that legislators in georgia have passed a bill, called the Student Health and Physical Education Act, mandates that school provide annual assessments on children’s physical fitness and wellness:

Local legislators said that there are better things the Georgia General Assembly could be doing rather trying to regulate childhood obesity.

House Bill (H.B. 229) passed the Georgia House and is now headed to the Senate. The bill, called the Student Health and Physical Education Act, mandates that school provide annual assessments on children’s physical fitness and wellness.

It also mandates the results be put in a report to the governor and that there be a recognition program.

A similar bill failed last year in the Georgia General Assembly because officials were allowed to take body mass measurements. That wasn’t a part of this bill, but could be included later.

Sixteenth District Rep. Rick Crawford (D-Cedartown) voted against the bill, saying it was “yet another requirement” the state is putting on local systems.

“It mandates they do certain things,” he said. “I’m fine with them doing those things if the local boards decide they need them.”

State Sen. Bill Heath said he likes to reserve his comment until he sees the bill. However, he is dubious about its intentions.

“Our teachers need to focus on educating our children, not weighing them. My first priority is to see us move up in education from 49th in the nation,” Heath said.

An interactive video game programme called I-Gym installed:

The Alexandria, Va., YMCA is one of the first in this area to pilot an “I-gym” — a workout room filled with about a dozen pieces of equipment that marry video games and fitness.

Part of the Zippeddy System is the user friendly software that automatically downloads your Activity Points from the Zippeddy Pedometer and stores and displays your progress. (Stay tuned for sneak preview product shots of the Zippeddy Pedometer later this month)

Features:
•    Automatically downloads, stores and displays data from your Zippeddy Pedometer.
•    5 “Blue Foot” levels - the more activity you do the higher level you get!
•    You can store a minute by minute history of your Activity Points.
•    Ability to view over an hour, day, week or month.
•    With a single click you can upload your Activity Points to Zippeddy.com so you can share your results with others! (Requires registration on Zippeddy.com)
•    Musical notes played depending on how much Activity you do.
•    A special administration screen for teachers to add or update user details.

Screenshots

Login

Results

Once you login, the Activity Points from the Zippeddy Pedometer is downloaded and stored on your computer. Then the following Results screen appears.