Tuesday, March 30, 2010

“Five ways to keep kids on move and off the couch (The Naperville Sun)” plus 3 more

“Five ways to keep kids on move and off the couch (The Naperville Sun)” plus 3 more

Five ways to keep kids on move and off the couch (The Naperville Sun)

Posted: 30 Mar 2010 02:02 AM PDT


Remember trying to pry your toddlers off the playground equipment? If your kids are now preteens or older, it may be a bigger challenge to pry them away from endless hours of TV and computer games, a lifestyle that can contribute to obesity and possibly other health problems.

Naperville parents Peggy and Dan Wainscott make sure that their daughters, Wendy, 14, and Molly, 12, have active, fun alternatives to sedentary screen time.

The whole family enjoys a membership at Edward Health & Fitness Center where the girls take kids classes, such as yoga, boot camp and sports circuit, which combines sports with strength and stability training.


On The Web

To learn about children's fitness classes at Edward Health & Fitness Center, click on www.edward.org/fitness.

"The fitness center is such a good resource for Wendy and Molly, and they like the classes so much," says Peggy. "It allows them to stay active even during breaks in their school and community swimming and basketball schedules."

Forty-seven-year-old Peggy's battle with fibromyalgia, and a history of heart disease in both her family and her husband's, motivated her to teach her daughters when they were younger to lead healthy, active lives.

Peggy's advice to other parents?

"Kids are more likely to follow an activity if their friends are doing it. Talk with parents of your child's friends about signing them up for the same fitness classes or sports."

Colleen Eggers, children's program manager at Edward Health & Fitness Center, offers additional tips for getting your growing spuds off the couch:

• Create family challenges and rewards -- e.g., a prize for chalking up the most steps on the pedometer over the weekend.

• Schedule weekly family active time -- bike or hike, or make the living room a dance studio. Regularly visit arboretums, zoos, museums and other attractions.

• Let your children see you making exercise a priority.

• If your children balk at team sports, introduce them to alternatives such as yoga, swimming, rollerblading or pickup ball games in the park.

• Promote development of community walking paths, and field trips as part of the curriculum at school.

Submitted by Edward Hospital Health Matters




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Kids everywhere too sedentary: study (Reuters via Yahoo! News)

Posted: 29 Mar 2010 01:30 PM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – American kids aren't the only ones being couch potatoes these days, according to new study of more than 70,000 young teens from 34 countries.

From Argentina to Zambia, Regina Guthold of the World Health Organization in Geneva and her colleagues found, most kids aren't getting enough exercise, while nearly a third are sedentary.

And while thoughts of the "third world" may bring to mind long walks to school and heavy physical labor for children, this isn't what Guthold and her team found. "With regards to physical activity levels, we did not find much of a difference between poor and rich countries," the researcher told Reuters Health via email. "Growing up in a poor country does not necessarily mean that kids get more physical activity." Guthold noted.

In their study, published in The Journal of Pediatrics, Guthold and her team looked at 72,845 13- to 15-year-old schoolchildren from North and South America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. The children were surveyed between 2003 and 2007.

The researchers defined adequate physical activity as at least an hour of exercise (outside of gym class) at least five days a week. Children who spent three or more hours watching TV, playing computer games, or chatting with friends (aside from time in school or time spent doing homework) were classified as sedentary.

Just one-quarter of the boys and 15 percent of the girls were getting enough exercise by their definition, the researchers found. And a quarter of boys and nearly 30 percent of girls were sedentary and didn't get enough exercise.

In every country, aside from Zambia, girls were less active than boys. In more than half of the countries in the study, less than a quarter of the boys were getting enough exercise.

Uruguay had the highest percentage of active boys, at 42 percent, while Zambia had the lowest, at 8 percent. Girls from India were the most active, with 37 percent meeting exercise recommendations, while girls from Egypt were the least active, with just 4 percent getting adequate exercise.

Kids in Myanmar were the least sedentary, with 13 percent of boys and 8 percent of girls classified as sedentary; the most sedentary nations were St. Lucia and the Cayman Islands, with 58 percent of boys and 64 percent of girls spending at least three hours a day in sedentary activity.

While the study didn't look at the reasons behind the lack of physical activity in various nations, Guthold speculated that urbanization could be a factor, as could the near-universal availability of cars and TVs.

Schools can help children become more active by having physical education classes and educating students about the importance of exercise, the researcher said. Adding lanes for bicycles, pedestrian crossings and other changes to promote walking and biking to and from school could help too, she added, as could giving kids space to be active wherever they live.

Studying physical activity in entire populations is difficult, Guthold noted, and any questionnaire used to measure physical activity will have limitations.

However, "even with the limitations that questionnaire data (suffer) from, I guess it's pretty safe to say that we have a huge problem with physical inactivity among schoolchildren around the globe and that we should take action," she concluded.

SOURCE: The Journal of Pediatrics, online March 22, 2010.

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Consensus not reached on amusement games ordinance in Braintree (Braintree Forum)

Posted: 29 Mar 2010 08:13 AM PDT

What would be the first Dave & Buster's location in Massachusetts would require an ordinance change to be approved by the town council so that the proposed 35,000-square-foot restaurant at the South Shore Plaza could have a large number of amusement games for adults and kids.

At the conclusion of a packed March 24 public hearing about the merits of such a change, the council's three-member committee on ordinances and rules could not reach a consensus about the advice it will offer to the council on Monday, April 12 at 7 p.m. in the Cahill Auditorium of town hall.

Councilor John Mullaney of District 2 voted to support the change, while Chairman Leland Dingee, a councilor at large, voted no and Vice Chairman Henry Joyce, Jr. of District 4 abstained.

"What you see at this table are three good friends who couldn't get two votes either way," Mullaney told the audience.

He explained the reason for his vote.

"While other towns are failing, we're growing," Mullaney said. "One thing I have heard is that the Plaza has a problem. I'm getting calls about crime in the Granite Street area. People say we've got a problem with crime, and they're concerned that this will bring in more crime. I just don't think it will."

"My concern is that this ordinance will allow others to come into town with the same operation," Dingee said. "I am concerned about the quality of life."

Dingee, who recently completed a two-year term as the council's first president, acknowledged that his decision was "extremely hard" after listening to statements from members of labor unions who support Dave & Buster's coming to Braintree because this will mean jobs in a dismal economy.

"I have always supported the men and women of labor, but as a councilor, my duty goes even further," he said. "My duty is to the community. I personally don't believe that game rooms will benefit the town of Braintree. That's the one thing I can't go against. I have to vote no. I really don't think that this is good for the town."

"I came here tonight hoping to make up my mind, but I am abstaining, which means that this will be forwarded to the council with no recommendation at all," Joyce said. "My decision to abstain will give me a chance to get my questions answered."

Dave & Buster's, a 27-year-old national chain based in Dallas that operates 55 locations in 22 states, is prepared to spend approximately $12 million to renovate the 250 Granite St. site of the former Circuit City store.

The nearest Dave & Buster's opened a decade ago at the Providence Place mall in Rhode Island.

The Braintree restaurant, if approved, would have about 150 full-time employees, with hiring preference given to town residents.

During a Dec. 22 hearing, the board of license commissioners unanimously approved the transfer of an all-alcoholic liquor license from the former Ridge Racquet Club on West Street, which closed in 2003, to Dave & Buster's, which features arcade games as part of its family-oriented philosophy of reasonably priced dining.

An amusement game is defined in the proposed ordinance as "any mechanism whereby, upon the deposit therein of a coin or token, any apparatus is set in motion or put in a position where it may be set in motion for the purpose of playing any game involving, in whole or in part, the skills of the player, including, but not exclusively, such devices as are commonly known as pinball machines, including free play pinball machines."

"We are a committee of the full council," Dingee said at the start of the March 24 discussion. "We have been turning all of our bylaws into ordinances. What we've decided to do is make sure that we have public input. This is not a public hearing per se, but it means a lot for us to get input from the public. We voted as a committee to have this be the only item on the agenda this evening. I realize that it has taken on its own life and is being called 'the Dave & Buster's ordinance,' but we're strictly talking about the merits of the ordinance."

Mullaney said, "The chairman has stated that this is not a Dave & Buster's ordinance, but if it does not pass, Dave & Buster's will not be here."

Joyce said, "This is a very important article that could change the characteristics of Braintree greatly."

Town Solicitor Carolyn Murray outlined the following revisions suggested by Mayor Joseph Sullivan and the board of license commissioners:

No person shall maintain or operate an amusement device without first obtaining a permit from the board of license commissioners. No person shall maintain or operate a game room as the exclusive use of any premises in the town. However, a game room may be allowed as an accessory use to a restaurant, as those terms are defined by the town's zoning bylaws or ordinances, subject to a permit issued by the board of license commissioners and provided that the game room shall occupy no more than 49 percent of the total square footage of the licensed establishment.

Whether alcohol is to be served on the premises and if alcohol is to be served on the premises, alcohol shall only be sold or served from fixed locations within the establishment.

The owner of an amusement game shall not permit it to be played or operated after 10 p.m. by a person under the age of 16 unless accompanied by and under the supervision of a parent or other guardian over the age of 21.

At the suggestion of Mullaney, the committee agreed 3-0 to strike the words in this sentence following "under the age of 16."

He told his colleagues, "I have a hard time with a 16-year-old being there after 10 p.m."

Joyce thanked Murray, Sullivan, and the licensing board for "filling in a lot of holes."

A woman from the audience asked the committee, "How does changing the current byaw improve the quality of life for the average Braintree resident? When the image of a town goes down, so does its property values."

Town Clerk Joseph Powers, who chairs the licensing board, said. "We on the board are required to conduct an open and fair public hearing. Our expectation is that anyone would have to file an application for a hearing."

A man spoke about the "many jobs for construction workers" that Dave & Buster's would mean.

"That building has been empty for a long time," he said.

"If you start changing bylaws, you're changing the character of the town," David Cushing said. "How far do we want the quality of life in this town to go? I think that we're going down a slippery slope."

A man asked, "Is this what we want for Braintree? I suggest to you that this does not fit into the long-term planning of the town."

Matthew Hobin of Sheraton Avenue said, "Who doesn't love playing games? Dave & Buster's is a great company, and they're willing to spend a lot of money here."

Roger Aiello said, "I think that the quality of life in this town will be diminished. I know that there's money here, but I don't think we should exchange six months of jobs for a lifetime of problems."

A man said, "Maybe I'm not a genius, but I don't see how it would lower the quality of life to have a place to go with your family to have fun."
   Another man said, "This would not just bring jobs, but quality jobs."

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Kids learn about healthy habits at YMCA event (Grand Island Independent)

Posted: 30 Mar 2010 03:54 AM PDT

For more than 10 years, the Grand Island YMCA has promoted Healthy Kids Day, which was held Saturday at the Grand Island YMCA.

The message behind the promotion, according to Amy Rathje of the YMCA, is to encourage children and families to adopt behaviors that support a healthy lifestyle.

But after 10 years, the message behind this initiative is as urgent as ever.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, unhealthy eating and physical inactivity is increasing the risk of a number of chronic health conditions including obesity as the percentage of young people who are overweight has tripled over the last 25 years.

One of the those chronic health conditions is Type 2 diabetes, which occurs when the body does not use insulin properly. According to researchers, this type of diabetes is becoming more common in children.

A study in the Oct. 8, 2003, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association projected that, if the rate of diabetes continues to increase, one in three Americans born in 2000 will be diagnosed with diabetes by 2050 and diabetes can significantly shorten an individual's lifespan.

As more and more research points to the problems associated with childhood obesity, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that school-age children should participate in moderate to vigorous activity for a minimum of 60 minutes a day, along with developing healthy eating habits while they are young.

Rathje said there has been a strong emphasis across the nation on developing proper nutrition habits among young people, especially as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 16 percent of children (over 9 million) 6 to 19 years old are overweight or obese -- a number that has tripled since 1980.

"Obesity trends are definitely increasing," Rathje said. "That is something as parents and the community we really need to look at how nutrition is being presented to our children and it needs to be presented in a healthy and fun way."

For example, some fast food restaurant chains are now presenting healthy alternatives, such as fresh fruit, instead of fried foods.

"That's an awesome idea and there are also simple things at home to make meals fun and tasty, but yet still healthy," Rathje said.

What troubles Rathje is the number of recent studies showing that this generation of children may be the first generation not to outlive their parents because health problems associated with an unhealthy diet and lack of exercise.

"Most stats are showing that most parents now will outlive their children unless they change their children's lifestyle," she said. "That not only includes their nutrition, but includes exercise. With 80 percent of what we put in our mouths effecting us, we need to educate our children right now because we are seeing more and more kids coming down with Type 2 diabetes and we are seeing kids with high blood pressure. There's an epidemic and we need to get a handle on it."

In an attempt to get a handle on this important national health crisis, at the Healthy Kids Day event were a number of sponsor booths promoting healthy alternatives to children and their parents.

One of the booths, Waters Dental Office in Grand Island, emphasized proper dental health for children.

"We want to make the point that healthy teeth are part of a health body," said Cori Waters. "Sometimes people think about the heart or weight, but they don't necessarily think about their teeth. Our focus is just don't forget the mouth."

The Hall County Cooperative Extension Office in Grand Island also sponsored a booth emphasizing proper nutrition.

"Our kids eat a lot of snacks that are not very good for them," said Extension assistant Linda Kunze. "What we are doing with this booth is trying to get kids to look at healthier snacks."

And while YMCA Healthy Kids Day was designed for children, there was also an important message for parents.

"In order for the kids to eat healthy snacks, the parents have to buy and offer healthy snacks as well," Kunze said.

For Casey Heck of Grand Island, that parental responsibility of developing healthy eating habits in young children is something she takes seriously.

"I think it is very important nowadays," Heck said, who brought her 6-year-old son Chase to Healthy Kids Day. "There are so many problems with kids sitting around watching TV and playing video games. They have a lot of great ideas here with healthy snacks."

And for Chase, he said it's "really good" for kids to be active and healthy so "you can really grow."


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