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Is there a child alive who is not attracted to buttons? If so, where is that child? Surrounded by phones, elevators, keyboards, computers, fax machines, ATM's and microwaves, the young child begins imitating their adult button-pushing parents the moment they note button-pushing equates "doing."
Parents report surprise long distance phone calls made by their button-pressing toddlers. They report heightened sibling rivalry when approaching the elevator...who will get to push the button first?
The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry estimates that between 16-33% of children and adolescents are obese. Obesity is the term assigned to a child who is in excess of 10 pounds of what his weight should be. And, this condition is usually diagnosed when the child is around 5-6 years-of-age. An obese child has a much higher risk of poor health going forward and may suffer emotionally from remarks other children make.
Since so many of a child's hours are spent in a daycare of school setting, it falls to teachers and administrators to participate in this early childhood health crisis.
We have at our disposal a simple, relatively inexpensive gadget - with buttons. Dubbed a pedometer, it will measure distance traveled, calories burned, and count every step the wearer takes. Jump, jog, walk...every bit of energy will be recorded and credited immediately. This is instant recognition and reward. The pedometer seems to be the ideal hook to marry that button-pressing need to math lessons and physical education lessons. It seems like a formidable General in the War Against Childhood Obesity.
Imagine a classroom of children all regularly wearing pedometers. Of course their goal would probably not be to acquire a good health routine or good health. However, children may be interested in a friendly on-going competition.
It could be a lot of fun to use your pedometer to "walk to the moon." It could be fun to chart which sports activities use the most calories. It might be fun to have team play within the class...which team walks the most steps in a week. Or perhaps a spirited competition with the class down the hall or a sister school in another part of the country.
Now there is a pedometer created specifically for children. It is inexpensive, in the $12-15 area, and comes in the shape of a frog. And with a choice of colors as well. For more information about this pedometer go to: http://www.mypedz.com. For Internet savvy children the website has other interesting ideas for kids using the pedometer.
The exciting idea here is the range of classroom curriculum that can be created using the pedometers. Math, science, and even social studies are at the top of the possibilities list.
Pedometers are only one fun way to approach the obesity crisis. They are not the entire answer and to have optimum results need to be coupled with diet and nutrition curriculum. And, because we know children model admired adults, a truly effective pedometer program should include everyone: all staff members and parents.
When it comes to facing up to obesity, there is little time to waste. Scoring a knock-out blow against obesity can have positive results of a child's entire lifetime.
