Our current generation of children is projected to be the first generation NOT to outlive their parents.

As I am writing this, my wife is treating herself to a side of french fries, one of Ashley’s favorite guilty pleasures and definitely one of mine. So I am not surprised that it’s a common favorite for many American adults. What is surprising is that french fries are the number one most eaten vegetable for toddlers. Not potatoes, but french fries – potatoes with the skin peeled off (removing a majority of the nutrients), deep fried in oil (killing off the rest of the nutrients), covered in salt and most likely dipped in a sugary condiment like ketchup or barbecue sauce. This fact only underlines today’s reality: childhood obesity is pervasive and at an all-time high. Since 1980, the childhood obesity rates for children ages 2-19 have tripled; with the rates of obese 6 to 11-year-olds more than doubling (7% to 17.5%) and the rates of obese teens quadrupling from 5% to 20.5%. And if you think that’s bad, this is even worse: Our current generation of children is projected to be the first generation NOT to outlive their parents.
My college professor made this really easy for me to understand by explaining that our health works on a triangle like the one pictured below. Our health triangle is made up of our Sleep, Diet, and Exercise, and we need all three if we’re going to maximize our health.
Exercise seems like a waste if when we leave the gym we devour nachos doused in refried beans, sour cream, and cheese, all washed down with the fun of a soda. Furthermore, eating right and getting our daily exercise is surely good, but isn’t beneficial if we aren’t getting our proper rest.
Cell Phones are Killing our Sleep
Ongoing sleep deficiency is linked to an increased risk of heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and stroke. However, proper rest contributes to the repairing of our heart and is a major contributor to having a stronger immune system, sharper memory, and better weight control. Adequate sleep helps maintain a healthy balance of our hormones.
Because it boggles my mind how much time we spend on our phones, I have to bring this up again: as I mentioned in a previous blog (click here to read part 1), our youth is spending anywhere from six to nine hours a day in front of a screen. Smartphones, tablets, and computers emit what experts call blue light, which interrupts the production of melatonin, the natural sleep hormone of the body. Sunlight is the main source of blue light, which is why we wake up when the sun comes out.
Exposing ourselves to blue light and reducing melatonin after the sun goes down makes it harder to fall and stay asleep. One thing that I put into practice last year was putting my phone and iPad completely away once I got home from work. But, if you don’t want to be weird like me, research suggests that you give your child at least a 30-minute gadget-free transition before calling it a night.
The Water Challenge
I use to be a huge juice fan, lemonade was my all-time favorite, and lemonade from Chick-Fil-A, was my all-time, all-time favorite. I loved juice so much that I remember waking up several nights a week just to have a glass; I was like a juice zombie in the middle of the night. For a month I decided to put down the juice box and pick up the water bottle. I loved how I was feeling and how my physical body responded. After that, the challenge was to drink a gallon of water a day and that was even better (minus the fact that I’m in the bathroom ALL of the time now; a small sacrifice for my health, I guess)!
Exercise, or lack thereof, and how we fix it
Studies show that more than half of our youth between the ages of six to 11 are not getting their daily recommended exercise, and that statistic is even worse for adolescents. Less than one out of ten adolescents, ages 12-19 are getting their recommended 60 minutes of exercise, and that includes their PE class in school. One way to combat this problem so that you can have a healthier and whole child is to get them involved in organized sports.
The two things that I have found to be really beneficial in my own life have been having other people that hold me accountable, and having a financial commitment. When I moved to Bakersfield in May of 2016 one of my priorities was to join a workout gym and get back into shape. While I had been working on the other two parts of the triangle, I wasn’t totally committed to the exercise part of it the way that I once was in college. At California Baptist University (my previous coaching job), we had a brand new gym facility on campus and every so often would go on little spurts of working out, but nothing lasted. It never lasted for two main reasons: first, I didn’t have any financial investment. The gym we had at CBU was free for the staff and faculty. When I didn’t show up, I wasn’t losing out on spent money. Second, I didn’t have people holding me accountable to my gym attendance or results.
“Wake Up, Let’s Go!” Accountability and Commitment
Without accountability, I would come and go as I pleased, and it was really easy to make an excuse not to go to the gym. Now, if we compare that to today, I’ve made sure to build both financial investment and external accountability into my work out routine. Ashley and I are now members of In Shape fitness club, and better than just being members, my attendance has been regular and better than ever because of these two factors. When we first signed up, we voluntarily committed to the biggest down payment option because I wanted to put my money where my mouth had been for years. The second reason this has stuck is because of my accountability partner in Ashley. Ashley loves Zumba and goes
religiously every morning and doesn’t miss a class. They offered Zumba on our recent cruise and there she was, in the front row. I knew that with Ashley by my side, I would be just as dedicated to the gym as she was. So, as time has gone on, we have stayed committed. There are mornings when I don’t want to go and she makes me get out of bed. And on the mornings when she doesn’t want to go, I remind her of that down payment. That’s exactly what team sports do for us. There’s built in accountability because you’re on a team and there is no longer a choice to come to the gym. Your team is waiting for you, they’re depending on you, and believe it or not, that financial investment is real. How many times have you finished something solely because of the money already invested?
Not only are children who do team sports much healthier than their counterparts who aren’t involved in sports, but the health benefits also continue into adulthood. Research shows that adolescents who play sports are eight times as likely to be active at age 24 than adolescents who do not play sports, while 77% of adults aged 30+ who play sports today played sports as school-aged children.
So, while the health benefits are typically the reason parents initially have their children join sports, be sure to catch my future blogs on the additional benefits and why parents KEEP them in organized sports.