Day 29 – The Future is Getting Bigger

I was at a movie today with my eldest son and was thinking about Tanya’s blog about the appropriateness of taking a child to a fight or a mature rated movie. We saw Monsters vs. Aliens, it was rated G, and I only had to talk to my boy about several issues I had with the film. What threw me off this train of thought several times was the number of children I saw that were overweight. It struck me so hard that I questioned if it was my mindset in the PCP zone so I counted as best I could the number of children in the theatre and those that I felt were overweight (a little subjective but I gave people the benefit of the doubt on borderlines). Of the 73 children in the theatre, 25 were in my opinion overweight.

This would equate to 34% of the children overweight. I know that child obesity is on the rise but I just can’t think of children as being overweight. Statistics Canada has stated that the combined rate of children and teens who are overweight or obese has jumped from 15 to 26 percent over the span of just 25 years. The problem doesn’t stop here, about 70% of obese children become obese adults, increasing the risk of their developing chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease as well as developing poor body image and self-esteem related eating disorders.

What is most alarming is that many obese and overweight children are developing health problems, such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and joint problems, at very early ages.

I was not surprised to find that there is a major gap between the reality and the perception of Canadian parents about the weight of their children – I think of all children as healthy and active with fit bodies. A recent Canadian survey indicated only 9% of parents of children under the age of 18 years identify their children as overweight or obese. Of course, this contrasts with the actual combined rate of 26% so what are these parents thinking, maybe like me they have a perception of children that is not necessarily true.

What to do about this? Maybe Patrick can start a junior PCP but no matter how good that would be I think it needs to go deeper than that. A special Canadian Committee of this topic suggested the following:

A. Set Specific Measurable Targets
B. Implement a Comprehensive Public Awareness Campaign
C. Implement Mandatory Front of Package Labeling
D. Limit Trans Fats
E. Collect Data for Targets
F. Collaborate on Knowledge Exchange
G. Increase Research
H. Develop A Coordinated Effort between all parties and regions
I. Control Children’s Food Advertising
J. Increase Healthy Food Choices
K. Evaluate the Impact of Tax Credits
L. Support Appropriate Food and Physical Activity in Schools
M. Enhance Community Infrastructure

I love all of these recommendations but since the committee announced them last year, nothing concrete has come from it. I will look at some of these in future blogs.

Today the program changed. Exercises are more advanced and there is a focus on legs. I need to work on my legs anyhow so I like this a lot. The food intake has also decreased a little but today I felt the portions were just right. We'll have to see how I fell in a day or two.

Here are my current critical stats:

BMI: 26.9
Fat Percentage: 17.8
Height: 160cm
Weight: 97.5kgs
Arm: 36cm
Chest: 110cm
Waist: 99cm
Hips: 96cm
Thigh: 61cm
Resting Heart Rate: 57 bpm

Not much of a movement on the stats but I am undeterred and feel great!

See you tomorrow.