The organization, active Healthy Kids Canada, recently released the results of a study that was prepared in the form of a report card. The research showed that Canada is getting failing grades in the area of the physical fitness of children. This "report card", which included 2 Fs and the highest grade of C+, gave Canada’s children a D average for physical fitness.
The fact that children are doing so poorly in the area of health should not come as a shock to anyone. according to the study, approximately 50 per cent of young people spend at least three hours a day sitting in front of a computer screen. The same percentage of children spend at least two hours a day watching television. Canada has the distinction of leading the world when it comes to the highest percentage of 13-year-old girls who spend more than three hours a day in front of a computer screen. This is quite a feat for a country whose name has become synonymous in recent years with mediocrity. all this time spent in front of the computer or television set of course doesn’t leave much time for exercise.
Professor Mark Tremblay, chairman of action Healthy Kids Canada apportioned the blame for the lack of physical activity on parents, the schools and the federal government.
Schools were given an F for not providing enough time for the amount of physical activity that has been determined to be necessary to keep children fit. and the federal government received a C- for lacking strategies and initiatives to promote physical fitness. The role of parents in providing exercise time for their children was awarded a D by the study.
There is no doubt that the schools should play a role in seeing that children are required to exercise. and there is probably a role that can be played by the federal government. But the primary responsibility has to lie with the parents. as Tremblay noted, many activities that used to provide exercise have now disappeared. People use snow blowers and leaf blowers instead of shovelling snow and raking leaves. and many people ride lawnmowers now instead of pushing them. If you add these things together with the fact that children hardly ever walk to school any more, it takes a lot more work to ensure that children get some form of exercise than it used to.
Unfortunately, we live in an age where people are far too reliant on the various levels of governments to do things for them. and governments who look down on their lowly citizens with the smugness that only they know what is best for people are only to happy to oblige. The worst example of this is within the federal government. The most recent federal budget, as with every Liberal budget that has been tabled since 1993, promised more money for daycare. While subsidizing daycare for working families is a worthwhile role for the government to play, Ken Dryden, the Minister of Social Development condescending looked down on those who advocated that tax breaks should also be given to stay at home parents. Dryden feels as his fellow Liberals do, that children can be looked after better by the state. It’s no wonder that many parents simply don’t feel it is their responsibility to see that their children get enough exercise. after all, if their children did need more, the nanny state would have provided it.
and many parents, especially those who have grown up during the "me generation" put themselves first at the expense of their children. They are too preoccupied with their own lives to really think about the fact that just perhaps their children should not be sitting in front of screens so much.
Tremblay recommended that kids should be encouraged to play pick up games rather than join organized sports as he recognized that organized sports would be prohibitive to many lower income people. The cost of running or playing street hockey is virtually nothing. and it’s not that difficult to do.
Unfortunately we live in a society where personal responsibility isn’t important anymore; where the needs and wants of adults are put ahead of children. It’s only a matter of time before obesity and poor health escalates to a point where it will reach epidemic proportions. and what will the parents do then? Why, they’ll blame the government. No matter how busy today’s parents are, there are no excuses for allowing their children to spend hours a night sitting in front of television or computer screens.