Fat Kids, Failing Health

BY CLAUDIA CORNWALL

Leta Totten had never seen anything like it. In September 2001 the physical-education teacher asked her Grade 8s at Central Kings Rural High School in Cambridge, N.S., to go for a three-minute jog. Her jaw dropped when only a handful out of the 40 could do it. The rest had to slow to a walk, or stop. “Five years ago,” Totten recalls, “65 percent of the class could do it.”

When it came to sit-ups, Totten expected they’d complete 15 without any trouble. They struggled to do more than five or six.

These kids are the Game Boy generation, she says. “When they go home, they sit down to do-nothing activities. They surf the Internet or watch TV. If they were to fall and had to grab something or pull themselves out of something, I’m not sure they could do it.”

When Keith Comitz asked his class of Grade 4s and 5s in Oromocto, N.B., to jog while he played a song, three quarters had
to stop before the end. Most could not do ten push-ups; few could do 20 sit-ups.

Comitz also teaches gym to the kindergarten to Grade 2 pupils 30 minutes a week—a total of just 20 hours a year. From Grades 3 to 5, they get 30 minutes twice weekly. “To improve, they’d need more time,” says Comitz. “I’m supposed to spend 25 percent of the year on gymnastics. With the younger students, that’s five hours. What can you do in five hours?”

It’s the same story for Art Uhl, head of phys ed at Alpha Secondary in Burnaby, B.C. Using portable heart-rate monitors to gauge students’ fitness last September, he confirmed what he’d long suspected: The top athletes were as able as those of the past, but the fitness of average students had dropped. After simple warm-ups, one Grade 8 boy’s heart rate was 160 beats a minute. “This kid was near the high end of his aerobic-training zone yet hadn’t even started a run. It was frightening.”

Alarm Bells. In 1998 the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) called for 30 minutes of compul-sory, quality physical education daily for students across the country. “But nothing has changed,” says CMA president Dr. Henry Haddad. “We’ve got to wake people up. Reversing our children’s poor eating habits and inactive lifestyles is one of the major health-care challenges of the decade.”

Dr. Bill Mackie, a physician and B.C. Medical Association board member, is so concerned by the rapid decline in fitness among young people that in August 2001 he asked for the establishment of a new federal ministry to deal with the problem.

The Canadian Fitness and Life-style Research Institute in Ottawa reported that in 2000 more than half of Canadians aged five to 17 were not active enough for optimal growth and development. A child who played soccer for half an hour daily and walked for an hour throughout the day would be getting enough exercise. But most do not do even this much.

A 1994 study of the Greater Vancouver area showed that almost half of kids from kindergarten to Grade 12 were driven to school instead of biking or walking; ten years earlier, less than a third got a ride. Kids are watching 15 hours of television a week and have added a host of other sedentary pastimes. Forty-one percent of 13-year-old boys play more than four hours of computer games a week.

Jane Vallentyne, an associate professor of physical education and recreation at the University of Alberta, says that even during recess there’s less active play than in the past. “Children don’t know games like hopscotch or kick the can.”

From 1970 until 1992, phys-ed teachers used the Canada Fitness Award program to test fitness levels and reward kids. Says Randy Adams, a Health Canada manager, “The program was dropped because it wasn’t encouraging those who needed encouragement most.”

Terry McKinty, a division director with the Canadian Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (CAHPERD), agrees that after 22 years, the program had to change. “But a fitness-appraisal test that assesses aerobic capacity, muscle strength and flexibility is still needed,” he says. “Parents and teachers request it all the time. For three years we’ve been submitting proposals to Health Canada for support in developing a new test, but so far it hasn’t been funded.”

Putting Kids at Risk. Children are packing on the pounds in several western countries, including Australia, the United States and Canada. Mark Tremblay, dean of the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Kinesiology, was the lead researcher of a study published in April 2002. It found that from 1981 to 1996, the number of overweight seven- to 13-year-old boys tripled, from 11 to 33 percent. The percentage of overweight girls in that age group more than doubled, from 13 to 27 percent. Even more disturbing, the incidence of obesity quintupled —soaring from two percent of children to ten percent of boys and nine percent of girls.

Obese children are at risk for diseases such as type II diabetes. Says Dr. Daniel Metzger, a pediatric endocrinologist at British Columbia’s Children’s Hospital in Vancouver, “Young people are developing type II diabetes earlier and earlier because they are less active and have diets too high in calories.”

As well, research shows that obese children have markedly less bone mass per unit of body weight than leaner children, says Heather McKay, a University of British Columbia human kinetics professor and an expert on bone density in children. As a result, they are in danger of broken bones from minor falls. Yet just 15 minutes of skipping and jumping three times a week is enough to increase significantly the bone mass of children of normal weight. “If we don’t do something now,” warns McKay, “this problem will come back to haunt the health-care system.”

Obese and inactive children are likely to become obese and inactive adults with a host of health problems. Inactivity doubles the risk of coronary heart disease and colon cancer, and increases breast cancer risk. In 1995, 21,000 Canadians died prematurely because they didn’t get enough exercise.

The Canadian Medical Association Journal reports that $2.1 billion of Canada’s 1999 health-care costs were attributable to diseases resulting from physical inactivity. That’s close to the cost associated with smoking—$2.5 billion. Dr. Mackie cautions: “When the health-care crisis hits and people in their 30s and early 40s are having strokes and heart attacks, people will ask ‘Couldn’t something have been done about this?’”

Programs Slashed. During the past ten years, many provinces have cut spending on education, despite rising enrollments. In 1998-99, Ontario spent $900 million less than in 1994-95 and Quebec reduced its annual spending by $800 million. School boards everywhere scrambled to balance their books, and physical-education programs, like music and art, were deemed dispensable frills.

Ten years ago Louise Stekli spent most of her teaching day on physical education at Alexandra Community School in Owen Sound, Ont., where children had 30 minutes of phys ed every day. She’s still at Alexandra, but as a regular teacher; now, most kids get just 30 minutes every second day—taught by their classroom teacher.

Generalist teachers lack physical-education training; many elementary-schoolteacher training programs require only one physical-education course. The downside? Most teachers don’t have the knowledge or the time to deliver quality programs. Lunchtime games and interschool competitions may then be casualties.

Until Grade 6, Michelinne Gagné went to a small school in St. Pierre Jolys, Man., where her classroom teacher taught physical education. “We had free time in the gym, but we weren’t taught techniques or how to organize a game,” says Michelinne. “There were almost no interschool competitions.”

She transferred to St. Germain school in Winnipeg in 2000, where she has a phys-ed teacher. “Here, I’ve had lots of help in improving my running,” Michelinne says. “The teacher runs beside me and analyzes what I am doing wrong.” When Michelinne arrived at St. Germain, she could do 28 laps around the gym in 12 minutes; this year she hit 38.

In Nova Scotia, elementary students are usually still taught by specialists, but for these teachers, time may be spread thin. Beverley Johnstone travels to two schools in Halifax and is responsible for more than 600 students. They have only two 25-minute phys-ed periods a week, and Johnstone has no time to organize games at lunch or after school.

Halifax parents Mark MacDonald and Craig Moore are trying to change that. As cochairmen of the Parents Association for Physical Education, they are lobbying for more physical education in the Halifax area. MacDonald remembers how, 30 years ago, he had phys ed as well as daily games during lunch or after school. “My son Drew loves gym,” he says, “but it’s only a blink of his day.”

Related Links The following links are for informational and educational use only. Reader's Digest does not endorse or guarantee any information contained therein. A Physical Activity Guide for Children, from Health Canada http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hppb/paguide/youth.html Nancy Frawley's HealthyEating.net offers links to numerous health and fitness websites http://www.healthyeating.net/he_6.htm#nutrition2 Healthy Eating Tips from the Dieticians of Canada http://www.dietitians.ca/english/faqs/faq_20.html Lowering Your Child's Cholesterol Intake http://216.185.112.5/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4499 Keepkidshealthy.com - A Pediatrician’s Guide. http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/adolescent/ adolescentproblems/weightmanagement.html Exercise for Overweight Kids http://www.physsportsmed.com/issues/1998/06jun/kids.htm Childhood Obesity: Managing Your Child's Food Environment http://www.canadian-health-network.ca/html/newnotable/may1_2001e.html KidsHealth.org - news for kids, teens and parents. http://kidshealth.org/parent/nutrition_fit/fitness/hate_sports.html http://kidshealth.org/kid/stay_healthy/fit/work_it_out.html http://kidshealth.org/teen/food_fitness/exercise/exercise.html

Both MacDonald and Moore get their own children active outside of school, and each volunteers several days a week coaching sports. “But not all parents have the time or inclination to do the same,” says Moore. “If kids don’t get phys ed at school, many may miss out on developing an active lifestyle.”

Some physical education is required for all children in Canada until Grade 9 or 10. (Only in Quebec is it mandatory until graduation.) CAHPERD awards schools providing 90 to 150 minutes of quality phys-ed instruction a week, but in 2001 less than five percent of Canada’s 16,000 schools got an award. New Brunswick children average 56 minutes of physical education a week. In Ontario phys ed is mandatory until Grade 9, but there’s no minimum time allotment. British Columbia recommends 142 minutes weekly, but a recent Education Ministry report shows 74 percent of elementary classes are not meeting this.

To make things worse, when physical education becomes optional, few students choose it. Earl Haig Secondary School in Toronto is typical. In the 2001-02 school year, there were nine phys-ed classes for Grade 9s, but in Grade 12, voluntary or elective enrollment lowered the number to four. Jessica Ahn, a Grade 11 Earl Haig student who opted out says: “I wanted to take three sciences because I thought this would help me get into university. I couldn’t take gym, too.” Aiming to study medicine, she’s aware of the importance of physical activity and regrets she can’t fit it in.

Parental Concerns. If parents worry their child’s academic performance will suffer
if they spend time on physical education, they shouldn’t. Roy Shepherd, professor emeritus in physical education and health at the University of Toronto, followed 546 youngsters through elementary school in the 1970s in Quebec. The control group had one period of phys ed a week, taught by their classroom teacher. The others had 60 minutes a day taught by a specialist. The math and English results of the active group were slightly better than the control group—despite spending 14 percent less time on academics. A follow-up found that in their 30s, women in the experimental group were more active than the control group and men in the experimental group were less likely to smoke.

There are extra benefits. When Marilyn Harris came to Mount Pleasant Elementary in Vancouver 14 years ago, she was shocked to find Grade 7s fighting and vandalizing school property. They had cut up sports equipment with switchblades and stolen all the air pumps. “It was a disaster,” recalls Harris, a physi-cal-education specialist. She’d been hired as a kindergarten teacher, but during her second year she persuaded the principal to let her teach phys ed and to organize more extracurricular activities. Today 65 percent of
the school’s kids participate in her morning running club. And Mount Pleasant kids no longer vandalize the gym equipment. In fact, they love their school. Last Halloween, when Harris asked for volunteers to decorate the gym, 75 helped.

A 1997 survey by the Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association found that kids who played school sports had higher marks than those who did not, and they were less likely to smoke, take drugs or get into trouble with the law. Denis Coderre, then federal secretary of state of Amateur Sport, said that investing one dollar in child fitness saves areas like health and justice between $7 and $10.

A Model School. When Will Spisso came to Vernon Secondary in Vernon, B.C., he was a pudgy Grade 9 student. His previous school had not emphasized physical education. But Vernon Secondary had been given a CAHPERD award for the daily physical-education program it had created. Will began weight training and joined several teams. He grew stronger and lost weight. Now in Grade 12, at six feet two inches and 212 pounds, Will plays for the football team while maintaining an A average. He credits the school with his increased fitness. “There’s plenty to do here,” he says.

While over half of Canadian children are not active enough, many are close. That’s why a quality phys-ed program can be enough to boost them into the healthy zone. Weekend and after-school sports programs can’t reach all children; school does.

Parent Mark MacDonald is convinced that more phys ed will solve several thorny problems: “How can we stop kids smoking? How can we reduce teenage pregnancies and obesity? It’s not rocket science. Phys ed is a good place to start.”

PHOTOS: © MICHEL CLOUTIER

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