 |
I believe that an increasingly rushed culture of convenience, along with flawed
urban design and the proliferation of fast food and snack food marketing, have
converged to create this epidemic. The technological advances that brought us
automation, TV satellites, and urban sprawl have also removed many routine
sources of physical activity from our daily lives and from the lives of our
children. In the Steve Martin movie “L.A. Story,” there’s a scene in which
Steve Martin gets in his car and drives about 30 feet to his next-door
neighbor’s house. Sadly, this is not too far from the truth for many of us.
This is particularly true for children, who watch more TV, have less P.E. in
their schools, and don’t play outside or walk or ride their bikes. Sixty
percent of overweight children – that’s children between the ages of 5 and
10 – already have at least one risk factor for heart disease; 20% of these
overweight children have 2 or more risk factors. Seventy-five percent of
children live within 1 mile of their schools, but only 25% of these students
walk or bicycle to school. |
