It’s a disappointing reality in America that the next generation is suffering from lack of movement and processed foods. The CDC gives the following statistics regarding children and obesity.

• Childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years.

• The percentage of children aged 6–11 years in the United States who were obese increased from 7% in 1980 to nearly 20% in 2008. Similarly, the percentage of adolescents aged 12–19 years who were obese increased from 5% to 18% over the same period.

• In 2008, more than one third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese.

• Overweight is defined as having excess body weight for a particular height from fat, muscle, bone, water, or a combination of these factors.Obesityis defined as having excess body fat.

• Overweight and obesity are the result of “caloric imbalance”—too few calories expended for the amount of calories consumed—and are affected by various genetic, behavioral, and environmental factors.

Getting our kids moving will not only help this overwhelming problem in our country, but in recent studies show that kids who exercise regularly do better in Academics. This is exciting news! Our future generation deserves a chance at being successful business leaders, researchers, teachers, doctors and more!

The Studies:
A review of 14 studies has demonstrated that the more physically active schoolchildren are, the better they do academically. One US test program at Naperville Central High School powerfully illustrated this point two years ago. Students who participated in a dynamic morning exercise program nearly doubled their reading scores while math scores increased 20-fold.  A 2010 study on primates published in Neuroscience also revealed that regular exercise not only improved blood flow to the brain, but also helped the monkeys learn new tasks twice as quickly as non-exercising monkeys; a benefit the researchers believe would hold true for people as well.

Why?
Exercise encourages your brain to work at optimum capacity by causing nerve cells to multiply, strengthening their interconnections and protecting them from damage. This is true for all age groups.   Children who are overweight need at least 30 minutes of exercise each day, and may benefit from closer to 60 minutes, but this is a good amount for all children.

360YourLife™ Tips:
• Limit your children’s time with technology. (TV, Computers, Gaming Systems, etc.)
• Enroll your kids in sports (not only for their health, but for team building and personal confidence!)
• Sign your kids up for fun races
• Take family walks and bike rides
• Encourage kids to run with you
• Set them up with rollerblades, bikes, or scooters
• Try High-intensity interval training, such as BURST, is the ideal form of exercise for children.

Sources:

USA Today January 3, 2012
Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine January 2012;166(1):49-55
CDC on Obesity
Mercola