While the whole “obesity causes cancer” shtick sets off my b.s. alarm, a recent study by the International Journal of Sports Medicine finding that a program focusing on exercise as well as food education improves their dexterity, strength, and overall athleticism makes sense. It makes sense to the tune of “no, duh!”
The study finds that, when given 3 hours of exercise time a week, the subjects of the study became more coordinated and had better aerobic fitness.
Here are my guesses as to why this worked so well where standard physical education in public school fails to produce fit kids:
1. The overweight children were given a safe space in which to exercise.
I remember physical education; even when I was a “normal” size I had to withstand bullying. Typically, the physical education instructors themselves are also bullies, so they both allow harassment by peers and engage in harassing behaviors themselves, sometimes labeling the verbal and sometimes physical abuse as “coaching.”
2. The children were given adequate time to exercise.
Schools, even those with really good P.E. programs, require a lot of sedateness. Most of the day is spent in desks. It’s training for future lives as office workers – also sedate – and in both cases, all that sitting still is bad for both the body and the mind.
3. There is no mention that these children were pressured to lose weight.
They were educated to be active and eat healthy- it’s completely different from being educated to diet. There are no notes about whether any children lost weight; the focus was instead on simple improvements to the body.
All of the above are big reasons why Curves is so successful. I’d almost want to go to that gym, except I don’t believe in funding evangelical movements. Their politics aside, they’ve been astonishingly empowering. I’m impressed.
