The news is not good.
Virtually every time I turn on T.V. or pick up a newspaper and read a magazine it seems as though teen obesity is rising all over the world. It is a true epidemic that must be addressed and little if any progress has been made states an article in THE TALLAHASSEE HERALD - TRIBUNE from April 7th 2004.
It also says that half of Florida's adults are overweight and many feel unless drastic measures are taken in schools, that number will keep rising. It goes on to state that half of Florida's students attend no more than one physical education class per week.
Senator Walter "Skip" Cambell is quoted saying, "We don't want (the kids) to be fat" And Senator Gwen Margilis, D-Aventura is seeking with her bill (SB308) to require students to either have a physical education class or recess once a day.
Healthy Teens = Balanced Teens
The news just does not get better.
In a recent article titled "OBESE KIDS LIKELY TO BE BULLYING VICTIMS" by Lindsey Tanner, AP Medical Writer she found that overweight adolescents are more likely than normal-weight children to be victims of bullying, or bullies themselves, a study found, bolstering evidence that being fat endangers emotional as well as physical health.
Ian Janssen, an obesity researcher at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario gives us the sad news that obesity rates in Canadian children tripled from the 1980s to the 1990s and show no signs of slowing down. In the United States 15 percent of school age youngsters are obese and increasingly plagued by health related problems. Nearly one third of American children are overweight.
It does not stop there. In an editorial in THE CAYMANIAN COMPASS January 7, 2004 the write states that Grand Cayman has a serious teen obesity problem.
Who is Raising our Teens?
According to John Reinan of the MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE studies show that children begin asking for brand name products as early as 18 months and by age 2 they have a preference for a specific brand. The food industry spends $15 billion a year making sure that millions of kids hear their messages. They also use popular characters from movies, cartoons and television to star in food ads aimed at children.
"We have issued a free pass to the food industry to the hearts and minds of our children, with no regard at all to protecting our children from negative influence" said Kelly Brownell, chairman of the philosophy department at Yale.
He goes on to say "The average American child sees 10,000 food advertisements a year alone TV alone."
Roberto Salazar of the U.S. Department of Agriculture oversees the USDA's domestic nutrition assistance programs and he says, "Our goal isn't to offset anybody else's message" but to "make sure children have access to healthy, nutritious food through the programs we supervervise."
He goes on to say "IF CHILDREN ARE OFFERED HEALTHY ALTERNATIVES THEY WILL CHOSE THEM".
Let's Balance The Message
I was one of the overweight kids they talk about in these articles. I was always searching for healthy alternatives and exercise programs that would speak to me when I was in school. With POSITIVE MOTION we have a program that inspires teens to find a balance between what they eat and how they "work it off".
POSITIVE MOTION starts on the inside of a teen's head by making them feel good about the movement and themselves and helps give them confidence in group exercise where they are not judged or labeled but challenged and given the opportunity to succeed on their own terms.
It is time to Balance the Message and read newspaper stories about how kids are exercising in POSITIVE MOTION.