The kids are heading back to school, now that summer is over, and some parents might notice that their sons and daughters are looking, well...a bit plump!

 

And they're not alone. The incident of obesity in children and youth is all too obvious. Take a trip to a local burger restaurant, or ice-cream parlor. You'll see kids that, to be kind, have retained their baby fat long after we'd expect it to turn to something more solid.

 

Jennifer Ronan from the Hastings & Prince Edward Counties Health Unit in Belleville says, "It's important for kids to feel good about themselves and have a healthy weight. But just putting kids on a diet is probably not going to solve the problem."

 

According to Health Canada statistics more than 50% of Canadian kids are not active enough for optimal growth and development. The result is that boys and girls are putting on the beef like never before. Researchers Mark Tremblay and Douglas Williams surveyed Canadian boys in 1996, and found that 35.4% of them were overweight. Girls came in a little bit better with just 29.2% of them carrying extra pounds.

 

In the long run this means that our over weight kids are much more likely to become obese adults. Their chance of developing diabetes, heart disease and many other chronic diseases increase with the extra pounds.

 

Sue is a mom who's watched her 10 year old son Jason put on a growth spurt over the last summer, that took him not only up but out as well. "He's too shy to swim at the neighbor's pool," she says. He's certainly not obese but in trunks his chubby roll is all too obvious. Jason isn't a total couch potato, but still he logs his fair share of hours slaying video villains or veging with his pals.

 

It's no surprise that lack of exercise is one of the main causes of poor fitness and obesity in Canadian youth and children. For the majority of kids 5 to 17, it's becoming a problem.

 

 

According to Canada's Physical Activity Guidelines for Children published by Health Canada, young people should try to increase time spent on physical activity, starting with 30 minutes more each day. At the same time, the Guidelines suggest cutting back 30 minutes per day, on non-active things.

 

The goal is for kids to increase active time by an additional 90 minutes per day, and decrease non-active time by the same amount.

 

There was a time when kids ran wild during the summer break. Children on the block played road hockey in the afternoon and hide and seek after supper, until the sun set. Today there are signs everywhere-don't play this, don't walk there and few parents let their younger children out unsupervised, even for a short period of time.

 

To be fair, a lot of things have changed in the last few decades, that restrict the kind of play available to kids. For one thing, parents have a perception of danger out there on the street, from predators and bullies and feel a need to keep close tabs on their kids, at all times.

 

So kids are probably a lot less active than previous generations, and who can blame them really, with the example many of us set as adults. We all enjoy some time in front of the tube, with a bag of chips and a pop. When it gets too hot, parents are often the ones to suggest the family jump in the car for a refreshing drive, or hang out at the food court, people watching. It looks like all of us, kids in particular, are paying for our less active lifestyles-but it's never too late to get some healthy exercise.

 

According to Health Canada's Guide, there are three types of physical activity that achieve the best results.

 

·        Endurance activities strengthen the heart and lungs. These include swimming, running and biking.

·        Flexibility activities that aid relaxation and suppleness-like bending, dancing and stretching.

·        Strength building activities that build strong bones and muscles-like swinging across the playground ladder, weight lifting and climbing.

 

Ronan suggests parents take an active part in their children's fitness and weight control. "Offer healthy food to your kids," she says, "and get out there your self and enjoy healthy physical activity with them. And don't forget to have fun!"

 

Jason's mom recognizes this, and when they talked recently about his concerns about his weight, they agreed to go for a long walk every evening, after super. She knows that it is not only healthy for both of them, but a great way to stay in touch with her son, as he heads into adolescence.