by Pennie Sempell
Are you worried about your child spending too many hours in front of electronic media and the TV? There is a price to be paid for being glued-to-the-tube (or its modern equivalents). If California is any measure of what is going on in other states, and I suspect that it is, the price is too little time getting the exercise and overall fitness that playing outdoors and doing sports provides. Diet plays a major role as well.
Public schools in most states score the fitness of their students at various stages in their education. In California, assessments are made in 5th, 7th and 9th grade. In a report published in Education Week, it was reported that fewer than one-third of students meet state fitness goals!“Today’s results are clear,” said State Superintendent Tom Torlakson. “When only 31 percent of children are physically fit, that’s a public health challenge we can’t wait to address.”
Fitness assessments include aerobic capacity, abdominal strength, upper body strength, trunk strength, body composition (BMI) and flexibility.
As a specialist in integrative medicine, the ramifications of not being fit can be expected to last a life time. A host of chronic diseases that may cripple us in later life have roots in childhood habits. Brain health benefits from circulation of blood and oxygen. Longevity itself is closely correlated with childhood conscientiousness.
Find out what assessments are made in schools in your state, and run some assessments, at the appropriate age, to see whether your child is in the healthy fitness zone.
Pennie Sempell is an integrative health therapist and wellness educator who works with children and adults of all ages and needs. Pennie has taught preschool in Washington, D.C. and California, and directed an aquatic fitness program for children. She has earned numerous professional certifications in mediation and peer counseling, research-based mind-body therapies, and traditional healing art therapies.
Visit her new site for FREE resources: www.healthierhappierlife.com
Are you worried about your child spending too many hours in front of electronic media and the TV? There is a price to be paid for being glued-to-the-tube (or its modern equivalents). If California is any measure of what is going on in other states, and I suspect that it is, the price is too little time getting the exercise and overall fitness that playing outdoors and doing sports provides. Diet plays a major role as well.
Public schools in most states score the fitness of their students at various stages in their education. In California, assessments are made in 5th, 7th and 9th grade. In a report published in Education Week, it was reported that fewer than one-third of students meet state fitness goals!“Today’s results are clear,” said State Superintendent Tom Torlakson. “When only 31 percent of children are physically fit, that’s a public health challenge we can’t wait to address.”
Fitness assessments include aerobic capacity, abdominal strength, upper body strength, trunk strength, body composition (BMI) and flexibility.
As a specialist in integrative medicine, the ramifications of not being fit can be expected to last a life time. A host of chronic diseases that may cripple us in later life have roots in childhood habits. Brain health benefits from circulation of blood and oxygen. Longevity itself is closely correlated with childhood conscientiousness.
Find out what assessments are made in schools in your state, and run some assessments, at the appropriate age, to see whether your child is in the healthy fitness zone.
Pennie Sempell is an integrative health therapist and wellness educator who works with children and adults of all ages and needs. Pennie has taught preschool in Washington, D.C. and California, and directed an aquatic fitness program for children. She has earned numerous professional certifications in mediation and peer counseling, research-based mind-body therapies, and traditional healing art therapies.
Visit her new site for FREE resources: www.healthierhappierlife.com
