GoodLife Fitness and Childhood Obesity

Full Disclosure: I do NOT belong to GoodLife Fitness. (I might switch if they continue with programming like this!)





Today, I took my 12 year old son to GoodLife Fitness to register him in their Summer Teen Program.(Link Here.) In Canada, GoodLife Fitness is a national chain of gyms along the lines of a Bally's, Gold's Gym etc.
I take a small amount of pride that they had their beginnings in the town I live in; London, Ontario.
For the last several years, they have been running a program for youth ages 12-17 that gives them a free summer membership.

I was hesitant at first that there would be catches or severe restrictions on the program, but surprisingly not.
My son was required to attend an initial group orientation session to get acquainted with the club, use of equipment and machines. He was guided through a 1/2 hour weight session, and a 1/2 hour cardio session, and then given a membership card for future visits. That's it.

There was NO hard sell to me, the parent, to join. There was NO requirement for my son to join following the summer. His hours are minimally restricted,  from 08:00 am to 04:00 pm, but beyond that, he has essentially full access to the club. I was pleasantly surprised.


Childhood Obesity Stats

• 1 in 3 kids are obese or overweight prior to their 5th birthday (2009 Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance System)
• 17% of kids aged 2-19 are classified as obese (2009 U.S. Data). That's 12.5 million kids!
• Obesity rates have TRIPLED since 1980

What to do?

Great question - with no good answer. As parents, we can certainly try our best to set healthy, active examples. 

Companies like GoodLife Fitness and Disney (Cutting Junk Food Ads) are setting a good example that others should take note of.

What suggestions do you have for helping the youth of today?

Props to Disney for Cutting Junk Food!

(photo courtesy Tom Bricker)

Congratulations to the Walt Disney Company for taking a step in the right direction.
On June 4, 2012 the Disney Corporation announced a wide spread set of guidelines to focus on childhood obesity.



They were able to partner with First Lady Michelle Obama in announcing several important changes.
These included:

• Banning Food and Beverage products advertised on their networks including the Disney Channel, Disney XD, Radio Disney, Disney Junior and Disney Online sites that did NOT adhere to nutritional guidelines by 2015. (2015 was chosen due to pre-existing ad contracts)
• Cutting Sodium by 25% in kids' meals at Disney Theme Parks
• Automatically including healthier sides and beverages, such as low fat milk and carrots at Disney Parks and Resorts.
• Adding a "Mickey Check" icon to be placed on foods that meet certain nutritional guidelines. Here are the exact guidelines (pdf)

• 

While not perfect, this is a nice 1st step in combating childhood obesity. Being a media giant, (they reach upwards of 99 million viewers on TV networks, as well as 121 million visitors to Disney Parks worldwide,

2011 data here), their impact on advertisers can and should be substantial.

I would like to see this extend to other advertisers, and hopefully to not only kids meals, but adults too.

Good on you DISNEY !

Tell me what you think about their initiative!

Longing for the Return of the CANADA FITNESS TEST

The CANADA FITNESS TEST. If you were a kid in the '80's you know exactly what I'm talkin' 'bout.
The words either put a nostalgic smile on your face or send a shiver down your spine. In the States, the President's Fitness Challenge would be very similar.



Back in the '70's and '80's, the Canadian Government deemed childhood fitness poor (is anything different now?), and after a run of "Participaction", created the "CANADA FITNESS TEST". The program ran from 1970-1992, with Hal and Joanne encouraging us with their "Bodybreak".




The test (here), was administered to unwitting Canadian students in Grades 3-8 and involved 6 gruelling, peer-revealing tests and an endurance run. They were:

1. Push-Ups
2. Shuttle Run
3. Partial Curl-Ups
4. Standing Long Jump
5. 50 m Run (about 150 ft. for the Americans)
6. Flexed Arm Hang
7. An Endurance Run of between 1500-2300 m. depending on how old you were.

Your ability was scored on a table, assessed on a standardized grid, and you were awarded an achievement crest based on how well you did overall. 

These levels were:

• Award of EXCELLENCE
• GOLD
• SILVER
• BRONZE
• Participation Pin

No matter how badly you did, everyone received a participation pin, in addition to their crest.

The benefit of the program was a national standard to shoot for, as well as encouraging all students to pursue some degree of physical activity. 

The flaw, in hindsight, was to potentially embarrass or humiliate kids who were not able to meet the standards. 

I understand the reasons behind discontinuing the program (costs, publicly embarrassing some kids), but I think the overall concept was sound. With this program, there was a national standard for all schools, and a goal to aim for. The removal of the program allowed standardized physical activity in schools to wither away in Canada.

I know that, at least in Ontario, where I, and my kids live, the daily requirements for activity are supposed  to be 20 minutes EVERY DAY (Ontario Government's statement), but this rarely actually occurs. There is now NO end assessment, and if a kid wants to just stand around, they do. We wouldn't want to make them feel bad, right?

I know this is a bit of a rant, but as a physician, childhood obesity is a big concern of mine. It very clearly leads to an increased risk of Diabetes, Heart Disease, Stroke, and lack of physical activity in childhood is strongly associated with lack of activity as an adult. The amount of time kids spend in front of a screen is upwards of SIX HOURS PER DAY (!) (Sun News, April 2011); time which, when we were kids, was at least time spent running dangerously in the streets, without helmets, supervision, and cushy padding under the jungle gym.

GET OUTSIDE WITH YOUR KIDS!!

Let me know what you think! Should we bring back the CANADA FITNESS TEST?