Des Moines Register
04-19-07
Physiologist: Push kids to exercise
Russell Pate will give a free public lecture today at Iowa State in Ames about
preventing obesity.
By DAWN SAGARIO
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
More than 12.5 million children and teens - about 17 percent - are overweight in
the United States.
Part of the reason is that kids, and people in general, just aren't getting as much
physical activity as people did a few decades ago, exercise physiologist Russell
Pate says.
Pate will talk about that today at a free public lecture, "Physical Activity
Promotion for Obesity Prevention in Youth," at 7 p.m. at Iowa State University's
Forker Hall, Room 279. A reception will follow.
Pate will talk about the lack of physical activity and the other factors - technology,
government policy and fast food - that impact childhood obesity.
Pate, an associate vice president for health sciences and professor in
exercise science at the University of South Carolina, is the visiting Pease
Family Scholar at ISU this spring.
He spoke to us last week from South Carolina:
Q. What top five factors contribute to overweight kids?
A. Multiple changes in society influence both sides of the caloric balance
equation. In terms of kids, the absolute revolution that we've experienced in
electronic entertainment is part of it. When you layer on top of television, video
games (and) the Internet ...our children now grow up in a culture that is just
littered with attractive, sedentary forms of electronic entertainment.
Our communities and neighborhoods also are now organized in a way that
presents a lot of barriers to human-powered transport. ... We've had a general
decline in exposure to physical education in the schools, particularly at the high
school level.
We've experienced enormous changes in our dietary practices - in our food
environment. The rise of the fast-food industry makes not very healthy food very
palatable and quite inexpensive.
When you combine changes on the dietary side with adverse changes on the
activity side, you have what some refer to as a ''toxic environment.''
Q. How critical is the situation about physical activity in schools?
A. There are signs that I would interpret optimistically. There certainly is a lot of
interest in many states right now in making much-needed investments in
expanding physical education.
What we do not have at this point is physical education included as a core
subject area in the school report card systems that provide accountability for the
schools across the states.
Also, physical education was not included in the first integration of No Child Left
Behind.
What you have is a situation in which the schools are being intensely monitored
for their productivity in the core academic areas, but not really held to high levels
of accountability in physical education.
I always hasten to add that in my view, it's not as simple as getting more physical
education in the schools.
We have to get better physical education in the schools - high quality physical
education taught by well-trained and certified physical education teachers who
deliver state-of-the-art, contemporary physical education.
Q. What has research shown about the health outcomes for obese kids later on
in adulthood?
A. It's just not a pretty picture.
As those kids track into adulthood, they're taking with them very high risk for
developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease and certain types of cancers we know
are associated with low levels of physical activity and bad diet.
Q. In addition to the physical benefits, what are the other perks for kids who
exercise?
A. A lot of positive social development can occur in physical activity settings.
That's one reason we worry about recess being eroded.
We worry about them losing the opportunity to informally interact with peers and
develop important social skills.
Q. What's the biggest change parents can make in the home to help kids be less
sedentary?
A. Do a better job of limiting kids' exposure to sedentary forms of entertainment.
Encourage kids to spend more time in situations where they're more likely to be
physically active.
Ensure kids have safe and attractive places to be physically active. I say that with
full appreciation of the fact that people do live in settings in which safety is a
legitimate concern.
I will also say that a lot of people in this country live in neighborhoods that are
perfectly safe for kids, and you don't see very many kids out there being
physically active.
Q. What suggestions do you have for families living in unsafe neighborhoods?
A. Get them to a park and after-school programs with high-quality physical
activity experiences.
In the summer, don't let them lie around the house and vegetate. Get them into
programs where they're going to be physically active.
Q. What are some other practical, inexpensive tips for parents?
A. One of the great things about physical activity is that there are a thousand
alternatives.
The challenge is for each of us, including our kids, to find at least one or maybe a
few ways we really enjoy being physically active, and that are accessible for us.
That runs the gamut from taking your child for a nice walk after dinner in the
evening ... to something as involved as rock climbing or golf lessons.
Reporter Dawn Sagario can be reached at (515) 284-8351 or
dsagario@dmreg.com