![[108/365] Ill-advised](http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5003/5268559005_c6f09bdd10.jpg)
Childhood obesity is not just a problem in the United States anymore where presently about 1 in 3 children are either overweight or obese.
While not quite as severe, the accelerating rate of childhood obesity in Australia which currently stands at about 25% have some taking extreme measures to combat it.
People have become so worried about this problem Down Under that kiddie gyms are being set up at daycare centers and even the homes of children ages 3-5 years old.
Kiddie gyms come complete with treadmills, weight benches and even rowing machines.
Some daycare centers are even charging membership fees for children to use the equipment much like adult gyms and fitness centers.
Has this approach to reversing the increasing trend of childhood obesity gone too far?
It seems that children should really be playing outside in the fresh air and sunshine for their exercise, not doing the lab rat on a treadmill.
The boring, repetitive nature of treadmills, rowing machines and the like may actually backfire and teach children to hate exercise rather than embrace it as the fun, creative experience it is supposed to be.
It would be interesting to go through the pantries of the families who are installing these mini gyms in their homes. Â Are the pantries full of chips, crackers, cookies, fruit juice boxes, soda and other processed foods?
Are the children allowed to eat mindlessly in front of a constantly turned on TV?
Sadly, the answer to both of these questions is likely yes which means that such gyms would have little impact on the child’s overall health until the underlying reasons for the problem are addressed.
Since kiddie gyms require adult supervision anyway to prevent injury, it seems that the time would be better spent taking the child to the park or for a bike ride. Â At least then, fresh air and possibly some Vitamin D producing sunshine would be involved.
On a brighter note, one very effective use for the kiddie gyms has been discovered by hospitals. Â The gyms are being used to help children recover from car accidents.
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist.com
I am in my 60’s so I grew up eating meals at the table with family and playing outdoors all day long. No pop, chips, cookies etc. unless it was a birthday or something special. Popcorn Sat. night was the treat. None of my sibs nor my parents had a weight problem. I raised my children with 3 meals a day and homecooked foods. McDonalds came along and I only let them go there on occasion. None of my children have a weight problem nor do their children. Both my girls cook healthy meals and there is little processed food in the house. TV time is limited. Is it in our genes? I say NO. It is in our life style. I say that because I got caught in the “low fat diet” trap and actually put on some weight. Then I ate even less fat and continued to put on more weight. I gained about 20lbs. too much over 10 years or so when I discovered Nourishing Traditions and this blog. I went back to eating as I did when a kid and young mother and I am losing weight. Eating more fat and losing weight. I feel great. I am convinced it is processed foods, sugar AND lack of outside running around as a kid that is the problem. I have been in both worlds.
Pudgy Preschoolers Hit the Gym – The Healthy Home Economist http://t.co/rgMR5zSg
Hi Sarah,
Last week I soaked some green split peas for about 3 days in plain water. I got busy and didn’t cook them till the 3rd or 4th day of soaking. I’m having a problem, which is, I have cooked the split peas for about 8 hours and they are still hard as rock. I have never had this problem before. I hate to throw them away, I have seasoned them nicely and put delicious homemade, chicken, bone broth in the pot. Do you have any idea why this is happening? or have you experienced this before? And what is your advice?
Thanks,
Jean
OH! I hope she answers this. I have split peas I want to cook this weekend. Looking forward to the advise.
I cannot imagine asking my son to walk on a treadmill. With his active mind it would crush his spirit. Heck, I hate those machines. Can you imagine replacing childhood memories of play with ones of isolating time spent on machines? How awful. There have got to be better solutions than this, even for city children. We MUST do better. This also will not change unless parents stop using processed foods for themselves and their children. It must start in the home or nothing our institutions do will really help.
I have been reading excerpts from Joel Salitin’s new book. Chapter one is entitled children’s chores, humility, and health. This is a great discussion relating to this article only by coincidance!
Start at the beginning – promote & support breastfeeding.
My kids play outside on the hottest days of the year. They sweat and drink more water. I’ve read that sweating detoxes organs.
The first thing I thought of when I read they were opening up in Australia, is that it’s probably too hot to play outside for many months of the year. Living in Arizona, we are just now cooling off to sub 100 temperatures (barely). I was recently at a store that was clearing out sand toys, so I bought a few for my kiddos, thinking “awesome…now we can go to the park”. I know you live in Florida, are the summers where you live a little friendlier? Where we live it is just absolutely too miserable to go outside, sadly for at least half the year, I’m thinking it’s probably the same “down under”. Though I do agree that it shouldn’t be kiddie treadmills and such, maybe they could install indoor playgrounds, with climbing structures and slides, etc.
Heat was never given a thought to when I grew up in the 1950’s-60’s. We were outside playing most of the summer days in heat over 90, often times over 100. We had no AC in our home, and I don’t even recall wearing sunscreen (hadn’t been invented yet!) or hats while outside either. Did we drink 8 glasses of water a day? Hardly, that concept hadn’t happened yet. Nobody got sick from the heat, and in those decades you rarely saw an overweight child or teen. Mind you, this is before HFCS and trans fats appeared. We drank an occasional soda (I’m talking 8-12 oz, not the liters they drink today, but made with sugar, not HFCS and it was a treat, not something we had cases of around the house. We also ate white bread and had sweets, but not in the quantities they have today and still no childhood obesity, sooooo, was it the exercise, lots of free play and walking around town, was it no computers, or was it less processed foods in such large amounts? I don’t know, but suspect all of it.
If you feed children junk and sit them in front of the TV, they don’t have the energy nor the creativity left to “play outside” any longer. Hence, let’s screw them up more by creating kiddie gyms! Instead of, you know, using the TV seldomly and feeding them healthy food….
My kids NEVER sit still. When they get outside it’s like they are wild animals, they can’t wait to play and explore everything. I have to take them to the playground or let them in the backyard regularly or they will start bouncing off the walls, almost literally. I even have a small play structure in their playroom indoors so they can climb and play when they can’t get out. We turn music on the TV and they dance. They are never still, they have tons of energy. They eat real food. And…they don’t have weight problems!!
I have to wonder, have baby clothes been redesigned in the last 20 or so years to accommodate heavier children? Mine always outgrow theirs in length WAY before they ever fill them out in width/weight. Some clothes that I have from the 80s that my parents saved fit them well, they are much slimmer. They are not marked as “slim” styles in particular, so I have to wonder if the whole style of making clothing hasn’t changed? Does anyone know?
Mindless stupid response to a problem created by the very institutions that created it in the first place. What will they think of next? The answer is right in front of them but it gives them no political clout (or actual money) to pursue it. So they don’t. Foolish.