A number of children growing up in North America are suffering from obesity as a result of inactivity. This is a problem that has, understandably, slipped many of our minds following the tragic events of September 11, but is still one that must be addressed and solved.
In order for the situation to improve, all levels of society must contribute. Parents, educators, sports organizers, government and even major advertising companies have a role to play.
Parents of children involved in sports must provide a comfortable environment for their children to compete in. The overwhelming desire to see their children succeed must never overflow into harsh criticism of the young athletes, nor into abuse of opponents and officials. Such undesirable behaviours create an atmosphere of tension and anxiety in which children cannot thrive.
While the number of girls involved in sport has increased dramatically over the past 25 years, it is still dwarfed by the number of young male athletes. Girls especially look to their parents as a motivating factor when becoming involved in sports for the first time. Boys, on the contrary, are primarily motivated by their peers to become athletes. In order to increase the number of female athletes, parents have to become sensitive to gender biases and encourage their daughters to compete as enthusiastically as they encourage their sons.
Educators — teachers and coaches — must also contribute to the motivational climate. In physical education classes, equal opportunities must be given to those who are less skilled physically and all criticism must be phrased positively. Mosston and Ashworth, in their book Teaching Physical Education, suggest that teachers should look to provide a variety of in-class drills so that children are not forced to partake of any one activity at which they struggle.
In addition, students should be encouraged to set their own realistic goals rather than go along with goals set for the entire class. Whenever possible, instructors should give positive feedback, such as “Try this instead,” rather than “This is really bad.” Because phys-ed class is the first exposure many children have to sport, it should be made as enjoyable an experience as possible.
More evident even than the need for motivation is the need for facilities and funding. Governments and sports administrators must work to provide adequate facilities at reasonable cost to youth athletic teams. A survey conducted by Sport Canada in 2000 concluded that “costs too high” and “facilities not available” were the two largest reasons for parents not involving their children in athletics. This problem could be remedied through increased funding for construction of facilities and less greed on the part of those renting the facilities out.
One can only imagine the amount of money our health care and justice systems would save if more people became involved in sports from a young age. The investment in better, more accessible facilities is beneficial to us all.
Perhaps the largest threat to fitness and sports involvement, however, is the prevalence of sedentary behaviour among children. In Infants and Children (Third Edition), Gortmaker, Dietz and Cheung note that children engaged in sedentary behaviour are apt to become obese later in life and are unlikely to ever become active or athletic. Television watching, they found, is particularly predictive of obesity.
The average individual becomes two per cent more obese with every hour of television watched in a day. While some television shows are good educational tools, television watching should never replace physical activity or quality parent-child interaction time.
The advertising that children observe on television often compounds the problem. While engaged in this sedentary behaviour, children see advertisements for chocolate bars, soft drinks and sugar-filled cereals that are certain to increase their weight and threaten their health to a greater extent.
A new, more responsible breed of advertising is required. There must be a balance between ads that glorify junk food and ads that glorify health and sporting activity. Adidas’s “Long Live Sport” campaign, which touches on such key issues as women’s involvement in sport, is a step in the right direction.
There are, at present, a lot of reasons to feel positive about the future of sport in North America. Even with large numbers of sedentary children, more than ever before are taking up sports.
