This is
another of those posts where I find myself scratching my head and wondering
whether the world is going mad. The other day, I posted about what I termed 'day orphanages' and reflected
on how our current government promotes things which are ‘in the best interests’
of children, which actually seem to miss the point entirely, and neglect some
of the most fundamental needs of childhood. Later that evening, I curled up on
the sofa with a leading medical journal, and was stunned by some reports on
levels of childhood activity and rising levels of obesity. These findings are
summarised in this BBC news article.
Basically, their findings show that strategic interventions, after school
exercise clubs etc simply do not replace the merits of an old fashioned
childhood where children were free to play out of doors for long periods of
time and expend energy. Somehow, in a culture which prides itself on high
levels of education and understanding, we are taking a huge step backwards when
it comes to promoting healthy lifestyles for our children. The irony is that
many parents who work extra hours to be able to spend a lot on childcare and
extracurricular activities may in fact be storing up a legacy of bad habits and
poor future health.
To quote an editorial in the British Medical Journal, ‘Physically
active children are more likely to remain active into adulthood, and
maintaining a physically active lifestyle throughout life has considerable
health benefits. Current UK guidelines state that all children and adolescents
should engage in physical activity of
moderate to vigorous intensity for at least 60 minutes a day. However, recent
objective data from the Health Survey for England confirmed that only 33% of
boys and 21% of girls currently meet these guidelines, and further research has
shown a dramatic drop off in activity levels from childhood to adolescence.
Thus developing effective interventions to promote physical activity in
children is crucial’. The article concludes, ‘Because a wealth of evidence
supports the association between an active lifestyle and many facets of child
health, it is essential that funders support research from multidisciplinary
teams that seek to study which sustainable environmental and policy changes
result in long term increases in physical activity and reductions in sedentary
time.’
Hello? Basically increasing numbers of research studies have shown that we are setting up
a generation of children with long term health problems relating to obesity and
physical inactivity, and thus we need to invest large amounts of time and
effort into developing interventions which promote activity in childhood and
active lifestyles. Am I being far too simplistic in suggesting that children
are simply encouraged to play outside, and have restricted access to sedentary
activities such as computer based games and television? (Touch of irony, I know
that there are reasons for the change in culture, but how many of these are
excuses?) Many of my friends and family think we are strange for the amount of time we spend out of doors, and are slightly astonished by the distances walked by our children from a young age. It can actually be discouraging - I touched on this very issue in an early post on this blog, where I considered how as parents we need to prayerfully make choices and decisions regarding raising our children, and to be fully persuaded in our own minds, rather than tossed to and fro by the wisdom of this age. The combined experience of walking past the infant school and then reading these medical articles encouraged me that some of our choices are indeed wise and best!
Again,
overlapping with previous recent posts, Charlotte Mason
had a lot of wisdom in this area. She
thought that a key component of childhood development involved spending as much
time as possible out of doors up until the age of about six or seven, after
which, outdoor activities remained prominent. This time should be spent
exploring nature, learning to really celebrate God’s manifold creation and
engaging in imaginative play; this can often be followed by related art or
craft activities to consolidate the learning (I have recently been enjoying watching my boys painting using
‘autumn colours’ and discovering the diverse shades which can be produced by
mixing the primary colours of red and yellow – often inspired by a morning in
the park). Whilst out of doors, children are simply being active. Not activity
for the sake of exercise, but developing the good habits of an active
lifestyle.
It makes me
sad when I see intelligent, well-educated parents making choices which are so
unhelpful to their childrens’ development. It flabbergasts me that in a so
called highly developed nation, there is a call for concerted efforts to find
solutions to the epidemic of obesity and its consequences in our children.