Search

Results

Get a move on, kids

14 Feb 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Christ raised from the dead is “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep,” we hear in this Sunday’s reading from 1 Corinthians. The large number of children more prone to junk food than fresh fruit and to fall asleep on the couch instead of going for a walk is leading to an epidemic of childhood obesity. Government fitness programs have thus far failed to turn the tide. Now First Lady Michelle Obama will try her hand at it. President Dwight D. Eisenhower tried to motivate kids to shape up when he created the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports in 1956. It’s been a losing battle ever since. Childhood obesity has been on the rise in recent decades, with 17 percent of children considered obese and about one in three of all children overweight. “Efforts like the president’s council have been overwhelmed over the years by trends in society that push kids in the other direction,” said Russell Pate, a professor of exercise science at the University of South Carolina. He cited a “triple whammy”--the advent of video games, the reliance on cars to get around, and the rise of a high-fat, fast-food diet--that undermines a healthy lifestyle for kids. In announcing her “Let’s Move” campaign Tuesday, Michelle Obama made clear that physical fitness is key to what she’s trying to do and that there is a role for the Eisenhower-era fitness council. Besides getting kids to exercise, the campaign aims to help parents and schools make better food choices and also healthy food more available and affordable. More than obesity is at stake, according to a new study. Kids drawn to sweeter-than-cola drinks are also more likely to have a family history of alcoholism and depressive symptoms. “We know that sweet taste is rewarding to all kids and makes them feel good,” said lead researcher Julie Mennella, a developmental psychobiologist at Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia. “In addition, certain groups of children may be especially attracted to intense sweetness due to their underlying biology.” The results don’t mean a child who likes ultra-sweetened foods will become an alcoholic. They only suggest a link between sweet preference and family members with alcoholism. “At this point, we don’t know whether this higher ‘bliss point’ for sweets is a marker for later alcohol use,” Mennella said. Source: Jeanna Bryner for LiveScience.com and Frederic J. Frommer for the Associated Press

Children let’s move sweetness julie mennella physical fitness michelle obama childhood obesity united states Alcoholism russell pate

Restricted
Run a little slower, jump a little lower?

24 Nov 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Going up to the house of the Lord, as the psalmist encourages this Sunday, will take a bit longer for today’s children, who are not nearly as fit as their parents were at the same age. Researchers have found that children's cardiovascular fitness is declining worldwide, with an average child taking 90 more seconds to run a mile than their counterparts did three decades ago.Kids today have been found to be roughly 15 percent less fit from a cardiovascular standpoint than their parents were as youngsters. In fact, about 30 to 60 percent of the declines in endurance-running performance can be explained by increases in fat mass.In a study presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2013, researchers have for the first time shown that kids' cardiovascular fitness has declined around the globe since about 1975, warning that this trend could mean declining physical health for upcoming generations in early adulthood.Researchers analyzed 50 studies on running fitness between 1964 and 2010 which involved more than 25 million kids, ages 9 to 17, in 28 countries. They gauged cardiovascular endurance by how far kids could run in a set time or how long it took to run a set distance.Cardiovascular endurance declined significantly within the 46 years, the researchers found. In the United States, for example, that factor for children fell an average 6 percent per decade between 1970 and 2000. Across nations endurance has declined consistently by about 5 percent every decade."If a young person is generally unfit now, then they are more likely to develop conditions like heart disease later in life," said Grant Tomkinson, lead author of the study and senior lecturer in the University of South Australia's School of Health Sciences. "Young people can be fit in different ways," Tomkinson said. "They can be strong like a weightlifter, or flexible like a gymnast, or skilful like a tennis player. But not all of these types of fitness relate well to health. The most important type of fitness for good health is cardiovascular fitness, which is the ability to exercise vigorously for a long time, like running multiple laps around an oval track."Homily hint: Kids need to run and jump and play, simple as that. Don’t let the children in your life turn into junior couch potatoes. If they do they will suffer on all levels now and for years to come. We adults need to encourage young people to make sure they get a move on—literally. Source: An article by Kounteya Sinha for The Times of India

Children grant tomkinson cardiovascular fitness fitness childrens health

Restricted
Run a little slower, jump a little lower?

24 Nov 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Going up to the house of the Lord, as the psalmist encourages this Sunday, will take a bit longer for today’s children, who are not nearly as fit as their parents were at the same age. Researchers have found that children's cardiovascular fitness is declining worldwide, with an average child taking 90 more seconds to run a mile than their counterparts did three decades ago.Kids today have been found to be roughly 15 percent less fit from a cardiovascular standpoint than their parents were as youngsters. In fact, about 30 to 60 percent of the declines in endurance-running performance can be explained by increases in fat mass.In a study presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2013, researchers have for the first time shown that kids' cardiovascular fitness has declined around the globe since about 1975, warning that this trend could mean declining physical health for upcoming generations in early adulthood.Researchers analyzed 50 studies on running fitness between 1964 and 2010 which involved more than 25 million kids, ages 9 to 17, in 28 countries. They gauged cardiovascular endurance by how far kids could run in a set time or how long it took to run a set distance.Cardiovascular endurance declined significantly within the 46 years, the researchers found. In the United States, for example, that factor for children fell an average 6 percent per decade between 1970 and 2000. Across nations endurance has declined consistently by about 5 percent every decade."If a young person is generally unfit now, then they are more likely to develop conditions like heart disease later in life," said Grant Tomkinson, lead author of the study and senior lecturer in the University of South Australia's School of Health Sciences. "Young people can be fit in different ways," Tomkinson said. "They can be strong like a weightlifter, or flexible like a gymnast, or skilful like a tennis player. But not all of these types of fitness relate well to health. The most important type of fitness for good health is cardiovascular fitness, which is the ability to exercise vigorously for a long time, like running multiple laps around an oval track."Homily hint: Kids need to run and jump and play, simple as that. Don’t let the children in your life turn into junior couch potatoes. If they do they will suffer on all levels now and for years to come. We adults need to encourage young people to make sure they get a move on—literally. Source: An article by Kounteya Sinha for The Times of India

Children grant tomkinson cardiovascular fitness fitness childrens health

Restricted
Former drug dealer finds a better fit

09 Mar 2014 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In the reading from the Book of Genesis for this Sunday, Eve and Adam discovered that while the fruit from the tree was indeed good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom, once she and Adam ate it they felt shame. Turning from temptation to the good has an ex-drug dealer looking at bodies differently.Former drug dealer-turned seniors aerobics instructor Thomas Mickens followed a path in his 20s which included selling cocaine and employing more than 20 people to deal drugs for him in a New York City neighborhood. The former drug kingpin had numerous vehicles and properties he had purchased from his profits of about $2.5 million in four years of drug sales. He was finally stopped by the FBI when a team of agents and narcotics officers from the New York City Police Department showed up at his door and arrested him in 1988. He was eventually convicted and sent to prison.During his time in jail, Mickens mother died. She had been half-paralyzed from a stroke and living in a nursing home where no one helped or motivated her, Mickens said. Also while in prison time he ended up in a facility that housed disabled prisoners. He worked out frequently and then slowly began showing them routines to strengthen their upper bodies. “They were so touched that I helped them,” Mickens said.After Mickens finished his 20-year term, he was paroled in 2008 and began leading two senior-citizen fitness classes per week. Those initial sessions led to work in more than 70 nursing homes and senior centers today where he or his staff provide exercise classes or facilities for seniors.According to a caseworker who knows Mickens, he has a special ability to connect with the elderly—and she was surprised to discover his criminal past. “That somebody could turn so completely around to becoming one of the healthiest people, and inspiring good health and wellness among seniors; it’s like two different people,” said Cathy Cahn, a caseworker with Services Now for Adult Persons. “I said to him, ‘I would have loved to have known you back then,’ and he said, ‘No, you wouldn’t.’ ”Homily hint: Recently Pope Francis observed: “God is in everyone’s life. Even if the life of a person has been a disaster, even if it is destroyed by vices, drugs, or anything else—God is in this person’s life.” The Catholic approach to criminal-justice reform and rehabilitative justice begins with the recognition of the life and dignity of all persons: Those who are victims of crime but also the offenders who have caused harm. See the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ paper from last month on criminal and restorative justice. Source: An article by Jill Caryl Weiner for the New York Times

ex-convicts senior citizens fitness thomas mickens

Restricted