Something has been really bothering me for a long time since my first born started school..... I have noticed that schools are doing more to effect inactivity than to promote activity. Most elementary and secondary schools have minimal physical activity requirements in their curriculum. Many no longer offer after school activity programs. Within communities, the budgets of parks and recreation departments have been reduced resulting in fewer physical activity programs that are less accessible and more expensive to the average family. No matter the work that has been done over the years to promote the value of physical activity our children are moving ALOT less- inactivity has become the norm.
Taken from a York University study, "the number of overweight children between the ages of 7 and 13 has doubled in the last fifteen years. Juvenile obesity has become a major health issue. Society's increasing dependence on technology has significantly eroded traditional activity levels. More children are choosing to sit in front of a computer or a television set instead of participating in some form of physical activity. The increased consumption of fast (high fat) food, combined with this Internet and television culture is further cause for concern. Four in ten Canadian children have at least one risk factor for heart disease due to an inactive lifestyle (CAHPERD, 1998)." I can bet these stats are far worse for the year 2011.
It isn't new news to anyone that the lives of our children will be shortened. Scientific evidence shows that as inactivity persists and as obesity increases that will result in a slew of health issues and disease which will ultimately decrease their quality of life as they age. I really think we need to take this more seriously (including me and my family)..... there is nothing wrong with smart phones, laptops, nintendo wii's and DS's, x-boxes, ipods. computers etc. etc. but it is how much we are using them and how much our children our using them. Over the last couple of weeks I have become a nazi with the time limits on all our computers.... our kids need to play outside much much more! This discipline will also have to apply to me, since I also love technology but I have decided that my kids need to see me place high priority on being active- which is a passion that has seemed to have taken a back seat over the years.
I think there is great value to extra curricular sports, not only for the physical but all the skills they acquire. I feel kids need these sports outside school because they certainly are not getting adequate physical activity in school, the unfortunate part is many families cannot afford the costs.. I think the 2 nutrition breaks that have been implemented in schools are a step in the right direction but
the onus can't just be on schools, the health of our kids are ultimately our own responsibility at the end of the day. I feel that our families, schools and communities can do better, what do you think?
So last week I had a hearing test appointment. My first one since I was 16 years old and I am 34 years old now... do the math :-) The outcome of my check up was much more severe than I expected.
I was diagnosed with a mild, bilateral hearing loss when I was in grade 3. So I had to wear hearing aids and shortly after that I was given an FM system to wear (transmitter for the teacher and reciever for me) that hooked up to my hearing aids. I hated them. I hated everything about the hearing aids because I was the ONLY one in my entire school who needed them. Then when the FM system was added, it signalled out my difference even more... which sucks when you are trying desperately to fit in and not stand out. Above is a picture similar to what I would have worn minus the part hooking onto the head above the ear. I couldn't find an older picture. That is alot of get up eh? I can't say I was teased much, so I am thankful for that because sometimes kids can be very mean. Honestly though I found them very uncomfortable to wear and my ears felt "plugged" all the time, even though they were supposed to help me hear better. I felt disoriented when I wore them. The program 2 that I could switch them to while on the phone really never worked properly. At least I have some funny stories to share when it comes to the FM system. One stands out though. It was in grade 7 and my teachers name was Mr Smith. He had gone out of the classroom and I found out that day just how far of a distance that FM system would work. All the sudden I hear, what I thought was the water fountain at first, then I realized he had forgotten to turn the system off to go to the washroom. At that I started laughing, good belly laugh kind of laughing.... of course everyone wanted to know what was so funny- so I told them.... to this day I don't know if Mr Smith knows that happened, I never told him but I am sure he wondered why we were all laughing so hard.
Back to my appointment last week. I was prepared for them to tell me my hearing had gotten worse and that I needed to get new hearing aids... my thought was technology has to have improved tons since 1994. Well after the test the man proceeded to tell me that I was between 45-50% deaf in both ears. Say WHAT!? Shock was already starting to set in... I thought I am sure I can hear better than that. Like I said I knew my hearing had gotten worse, and so did many of my loved ones but didn't think it had deteriorated that much. They explained my hearing loss (reverse loss), which is rare and different than most. They showed me a chart and discussed the different tones and how I can hear some better than others. So it depends on the tone and the environment. Then I asked a question I didn't want the answer to.... is it going to continue to deteriorate? And the answer was that yes overtime it will most likely deteriorate until it is completely gone. Shock still setting in- not something I really considered would happen to me over the last number of years. They talked about how they know alot more now than they did 15-20 years ago and then showed me the kind of hearing aid I actually need. They also explained how the kind I used as a kid were probably no good for my hearing loss... no kidding! It wasn't all in my head. When they showed me pictures I could hardly believe how far technology has come, the ones I need are the size of a kidney bean! They are essentialy tiny computers. They even have blue tooth in them- Wow!! They even come in different colours...maybe they won't be so awful after all and the big plus is I'll be able to hear alot better. Which, of course, will be healthier for me and the people around me- which is an important part of living :-)
