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Imagine my shock to learn that obese children who watch a lot of television are more likely to have high blood pressure than obese children who do not watch as much television. Obese children who watched 2 to 4 hours of TV each day were 2.5 times more likely than their peers who watched less TV to have high blood pressure, while kids who watched more than 4 hours daily had more than triple the risk of having high blood pressure. Increased psychological stress and junk food eaten while watching TV could be factors in the relationship, according to principal investigator Dr. Jeffrey B. Schwimmer of the University of California, San Diego, told Reuters Health. Not to be too smug, but did we really need a formal study to draw that conclusion? I think a more informative study would be to interview the parents of obese children and ask what they plan to do to save their children. When I grew up we were not allowed to watch television during the daytime, unless we were home sick or the weather would not permit outdoor playing. Even then, we were not allowed to watch television until our homework was done. To me, this is just another example of the obstacles we face in eliminating obesity: empowering children to solve the problem and giving them the tools and incentives to get off the couch and into a healthy fun lifestyle. But we also need parents to get engaged, unplug the television and ensure children undertake healthy activities. I'm not a researcher, an ivy league Phd, or a medical doctor, but I know that too many children are obese and something needs to be done. We'll just add high-blood pressure to the list of maladies affecting obese children. More about this ground-breaking study here. |
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As the kids are compiling their requests for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or the other holidays, now is a good time to be cognizant of childhood obesity. Sure the video games and more passive toys are in demand, but, that should not preclude healthier gifts for kids, items like sneakers, sports equipment like skis, snowboards, Jumpsnaps, ice skates, and the toys that were good enough for us and our parents. I have yet to see any report showing a video game does more for eye-hand coordination than a baseball glove or bat. A good pair of ice skates is healthier and more challenging for children than a doll. I'm not saying we should make children miserable by giving them toys and gifts they do not want. Rather, help our children to embrace the toys that are good for them and fun as well. I look forward to taking my nieces on a fun snowshoe adventure Christmas morning. |
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Exciting News for My Fitness 1st |
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My Fitness 1st is now moving forward. We are very excited to begin raising money and awarding grants to individuals and organizations that will eliminate obesity. Brad and I have been working on establishing this foundation and getting everything in order. We are very excited to begin rolling out all the projects and programs. This is the most important issue facing our youth and we look forward to eliminating obesity. For many groups and foundations, they want to contribute to the solution. My Fitness 1st wants to eliminate, not contribute, but completely eliminate obesity. Merely reducing obesity is nice but not enough. Elimination is the goal. Our children deserve it, our families deserve it and our communities deserve it. We cannot do it alone and you will hear more about this as we continue to succeed in this mission. We look forward to working together. |
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Coming Soon to a Television Near You |
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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Ad Council and the National Football League have joined forces this past week to promote new public service announcements (PSAs), designed to encourage physical activity among children and combat childhood obesity. The commercials will run during football games this month. The PSA's encourage kids from (ages 6-13) to engage in 60 minutes of activity daily, telling them physical activity is fun and easy and you do not need to play organized sports to be active. Both the HHS and the NFL have created websites and activities directed at children and families to address obesity, encourage physical activity and to be healthy. This is yet another example of powerful partners coming together to help address this epidemic. I encourage you to take a look and explore these two sites and their fantastic resources. At My Fitness 1st we look forward to working with these organizations in our mission to eliminate obesity. |
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I came across a very interesting article about a weight loss study the other day. This study, conducted by researchers at RTI International based in Research Triangle Park North Carolina found that people will lose weight for money. The best part, is it does not even take a lot of money for people to lose weight. According to this study, people would lose weight for as little as $7.00. This is a the latest trend offered by many companies, offering benefits for healthy lifestyles. Most heartening is the underlying idea: you can reward people to change their behavior. This is exactly the premise of MyFitness 1st. The Fitness Ambassador and Junior Fitness Ambassador programs reward kids who are willing to model and influence positive behaviors incorporating fitness, exercise and healthy eating. We are empowering youth to be a solution to their problem. The reward is money for college. Through these programs, kids learn how to live healthy lifestyles, learn how to lead others to achieve positive goals, and get money put aside to alleviate the costs of higher education. There is no downside to this proposition. What incentives would help you to lose weight? |
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For the past 10 years, Dan has dedicated himself to representing public education before congress while advancing the legislative priorities of educators around the country. In this role, Dan has worked on complex education policies including the education of children with disabilities and school health policies. Combining years of public policy work with his life long focus on education, Dan is now the Executive Director of My Fitness 1st, an organization dedicated to eliminating childhood obesity. He has appeared on CNN, Fox News, in the Wall Street journal, Time Magazine, New York Times and other national and local media outlets. 
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