Australia vying to be world champion of inactivity (Hey, what about U.S.?)

If Australia is to be the champ, it seems like they may have to go through U.S. or Canada, Ireland, Scotland and seemingly most of the so-called developed world. Mexico scores higher than the Anglo countries, so Mexico can take a bow.

Seriously though, this article highlights many of the seemingly separate issues that we have discussed on this blog regarding youth sports and physical activity/education in general, Sports Participation and (over?) Specialization specifically, Fitness, Diet and Nutrition, Childhood Obesity and Safety -- and I believe the author shows how they may be linked together. Sometimes it is hard to see the forest for the trees and just as in many other areas in our lives, it's all about trade-offs. Great article.

Children from 100 years ago were 50% more active than kids today

( H/T for Colin Twiggs from R&I (Research and Investment) Trading Diary for the link ) 

from theconversation.com
Australia vying to be world champion of inactivity:

During her two years at Bedales, Miss Bedale measured the energy expenditure and intake of the school’s students, using methods that are still considered to be gold standards today. 

Her data provide a startling contrast to our time. Children from almost 100 years ago were 50% more active than kids today. They accumulate over four hours more of physical activity and sat for three hours less than today’s kids - every day. 

'via Blog this'

The study shows what leads to our obesity epidemic: lack of activity in general, less diversity in the number of sports children participate in and the lack of free play that kids participate due to safety concerns.

In many different ways and in many different areas -- in terms of physical fitness and activity -- we are putting kids in smaller boxes -- compartmentalizing their activities -- and inhibiting their physical activity which then retards their physical growth and development.

And it's not just children whose lives have been changed. I love this part of the article:

Post-industrial malaise

The roots of inactivity go deep into the cultural and socioeconomic logic of post-industrial societies. In many ways, the whole ethos of ease now saturates our society, and efficiency is the hallmark of modernity.

Think about it this way - nobody is in the market for a labour-creating device. Sit-on mowers, leaf blowers, self-opening doors and automatic car windows, robot vacuum cleaners, sensor lighting, dishwashers and microwaves all yield daily microsavings in energy expenditure that add up to hundreds of kilojoules.

In 1900, the average American housewife spent an estimated 40 hours every week in food preparation. Today, that time is barely four hours — and it appears to have reached an absolute minimum.

"Ethos of ease". There is a catch-phrase that could definitely catch on since it crystallizes the problem simply and elegantly. "Nobody is in the market for a labor-creating device". Touche, madame.

And the food preparation number, which ties into the whole foods versus processed foods issue and it's deleterious effect on the American diet. Priceless.

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more from theconversation.com
Australia vying to be world champion of inactivity:

Consider, the global decline in kids walking or cycling to school. In 1970, almost 70% of Australian kids walked or cycled to school. Today, this proportion is barely 25%. The trend is similar in the United Kingdom, Brazil, Switzerland, the United States and Canada.

In some ways, sports participation is going the same way. While overall yearly participation in sport is increasing, kids are playing fewer different kinds of sports. In 1985, 40% of Australian children played three or more sports every year. By 2000, only 11% of children reported playing this number of sports within the same period.

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Free play — climbing trees in the backyard, mucking around in parks or bushland, informal ball games — is also declining.

In 1957, 12 to 14-year-old kids were asked to nominate their favourite play spaces. Four out of five boys and three out of five girls nominated outdoor spaces (parks, backyards, the local creek). When the survey was repeated in 2000, only 35% listed outdoor spaces.

In the 1960s, 83% of kids were allowed to play unsupervised in the neighbourhood. When those kids from the 1960s grew up and became parents, only 25% allowed their own children to play unsupervised in the neighbourhood.