Getting Fat or Climbing the Piano Stairs?

Dr. Brian McCrindle, a cardiologist at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, has just told told the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress of 2009 the results of a seven-year ongoing study examining over 20,000 Canadian grade 9 students. The results are "evidence of an accelerating decline in the heart health of Canada's teens" according to McCrindle, showing as they do that most of those teens already have at least one major risk factor for heart disease and stroke.
The study investigating the teens' heart health, between 2002 and 2008, involved 20,719 grade 9 students aged 14 and 15 years. It was found that the teens' rates of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and obesity were higher than they should ever be for that age group and that the rates were increasing over time.
Dr. Beth Abramson, Heart and Stroke Foundation spokesperson, says "An increase of this magnitude in this age group is astonishing." and she also says, "These children are in grave danger ... of developing long-term health effects such as premature heart disease and type 2 diabetes."
The healthy lifestyle that would address this issue is not one that is universal, by any means. Neither is it the easiest one to stick to, or the most "fun". The pressure to eat according to the big corporations profit margin needs rather than heart health needs is enormous. Think about all the ads you see for various fast foods, and how very often you see them. They are indeed omnipresent, from McDonald's "I'm Lovin' It" to KFC's "We Do Chicken Right", and the least healthy food choices, like some sugar-laden breakfast cereals are the ones most aggressively marketed directly to children as young as age two, according to a new study from Yale University in New Haven, Conn.
Lead researcher Jennifer L. Harris, director of marketing initiatives at Yale's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, says "The total amount of breakfast cereal marketing to children on television and computer screens, and at their eye-level in stores, combined with the appalling nutrient profile of the cereals most frequently marketed is staggering." Check the list below, because if you feed any of these to your kids, you're helping them get a great head start on the road to obesity, poor heart health and diabetes. According to the Yale study, here are the sugar facts for five popular cereals:

Cocoa Puffs: 44 per cent sugar
Cap'n Crunch: 44 per cent sugar
Froot Loops: 41 per cent sugar
Lucky Charms: 41 per cent sugar
Cinnamon Toast Crunch: 32 per cent sugar

Again, according to the Yale study, "The average pre-schooler sees 642 cereal ads per year on television alone, almost all for cereals with the worst nutrition rankings." Combating such pressure takes the involvement of the whole family to start with and needs to move outward to the whole community. Of course, with profit margin on the line, getting the whole community onside, including the big corporations is probably going to take something damn near apocalyptic, so it falls back on the family above all to save the next generation from being the first to start succumbing to health problems normally associated with old age, like stroke, before their parents do.
There is simply nothing to beat the effectiveness of example. When the parent sits on the couch and orders the child to go exercise, it's much less effective then when the parent laces up their own Reeboks and leads the whole group out the door for an hour of physical exertion. I know all about the demands of today's busy life, but I'm not just indulging in facile advice-giving. I've talked the talk and walked the walk, myself. There is no easy, quick solution to the problem of childhood obesity, but there is one that you can make into family fun. The list of "fun" activities is just about endless, and all it takes is a little willingness from the parent(s). Stomping purposely through every puddle you can find on a rainy day, kicking your feet through the fallen leaves in the local park, staging a good old-fashioned snowball fight in the midst of a thick snowfall ... about the only limit to the list is your imagination. It really does work magic to make the onerous "fun" and if you need any proof of that or maybe a little start-up inspiration for your efforts to save the health of a kid you care about - not to mention your own health - try watching the video below. You'll find yourself viewing "The Piano Staircase" from the good folks at the fun theory site, who feel sure that "something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better." Fighting for your kids' health might have you feeling at times like you're bucking the whole world, but armed with a smile or two, you just might win the battle.