No matter where you stand politically, “blue” or “red,” surely we all feel “purple” (a unity of red and blue) when it comes to the health of our children. And, it is wonderful to know that our children have a strong advocate in such a powerful position of influence. First Lady Michelle Obama is fighting hard to implement ways to help our children lose the unhealthy and unnecessary weight that impacts their lives now and will add up to disease and disability in their future. She’s making it very clear that her fight against childhood obesity isn’t about appearance, i.e., slender is beautiful, but rather it’s about whether kids have enough energy to be productive at school.

Mrs. Obama spoke recently at a Forum sponsored by Newsweek magazine. She voiced from her own parental experience that every parent is familiar with the difference in a child’s behavior when a child has had a healthy meal and when he or she has eaten a lot of sugar. She suggests that it is more important to give parents information on the ingredients in sugary snacks and how many of them can safely be included in a child’s diet, rather than requiring warning labels on unhealthy foods, an idea she calls “extreme.”

Let’s all join in the good fight, “for” our children and “against” obesity, and help the next generation to grow up to be healthy and strong adults and ready for the world we’ve left them.

Posted via email from chironews4u’s posterous

Technorati Tags: childhood obesity, children's health, Where:Santa-Barbara-CA

Even if kids don’t continue to be as active later in childhood, being active at age five helps them to stay lean as they get older. “We call this effect ‘banking’ because the kids benefit later on, similar to having a savings account at a bank. The protective effect is independent of what happens in between,” Janz went on to say.

The UI team tested the body fat and activity level of 333 kids at ages five, eight and eleven using a special scanner that accurately measures bone, fat and muscle tissue, and an accelerometer that measures movement every minute. Rather than depending on kids or parents to track minutes of exercise, the kids wore accelerometers to record their activity level for up to five days.

Even when controlling for their accumulated level of activity, the study (published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine) indicated that kids who are active at age five end up with less fat at age eight and eleven.  The average five-year-old in the study got thirty minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise per day. For every ten minutes on top of that, kids had one-third of a pound less fat tissue at ages eight and eleven.

Although further investigation is needed to discover what happens to the active kids’ bodies that keeps them in better shape down the road, Janz said that it may be possible that the active 5-year-olds didn’t develop as many fat cells, improved their insulin response, or that something happened metabolically that supplied some protection even as they became less active.

Weight moderation, however, isn’t the only benefit of early exercise. As a chiropractor I have observed over the years that active kids have far less common childhood health challenges, such as catching colds and the flu. Chiropractic care is, naturally, particularly beneficial in helping kids to stay healthier. But, in addition, the stimulation to the brain that takes place during activities, especially those that require “cross pattern” motor movements of the larger muscles, i.e., right hand/left leg and left hand/right leg, such as crawling, running, climbing, and skipping, also boosts the autoimmune system and keeps kids healthier.

A large number children nowadays are overweight and unhealthy. Though part of the problem is an inappropriate diet, lack of exercise is also a major contributing factor. If you have a five-year-old who chooses to watch television or play video games rather than participating in more active play, help your child to get up and get moving into healthier activities. Moderate to vigorous exercise will not only benefit your child now, but will help to build a healthier future. You can bank on it!

Technorati Tags: children's health, chiropractic, chiropractor