US health expert says for a generation reared on Playstation, you must make exercise fun. Michelle McDonagh reports
The current generation of American children could become the first in US history to live shorter lives than their parents, according to an expert in exercise and health who warns of the same trend for Irish children.
Professor of exercise and health science at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, Dr Kyle McInnis says: "Like in the US and in other industrialised nations where an abundance of fast food, TV and media, and reliance on motorised transportation are prevalent in everyday culture, Ireland is experiencing an epidemic of obesity."
More time spent on the couch, using the computer, playing video games and less time spent in physical activity have a lot to do with the trends in youth obesity, but McInnis and his colleagues have decided to turn the tables and use technology in a positive way.
"I have created a virtual type of experience for kids, involving cutting edge equipment coming out of the fitness industry. To engage kids, you must make exercise into play. Unlike adults, children do not exercise to lose weight or get fit, they do it to have fun so we must make it fun for them," he says.
During his visit to Galway this week to discuss the parallel problems and possible solutions related to youth obesity, low levels of physical education and poor eating habits among a growing number of American and Irish youths, McInnis demonstrated a new interactive game for children called Trazer, the first time the game has been seen in Ireland.
Children wear a belt fitted with electrode sensors while watching a video screen - the child must jump, run or kick with the belt to move the image on the screen and the faster they move, the more points they get.
There are a number of different Trazer games which can be played, including a soccer game which would be popular with Irish children (for further info check out www.cybexinternational.com).
Another game McInnis uses is a Sports Wall which involves kids running back and forth and throwing balls at the wall to hit flashing lights and score points. Then there is the Powergrid, a game connected to a Playstation or Xbox to develop strength and muscle resistance.
The idea is to put all of these games and others together into one room at a local health or community centre where children move from one to the next like a form of fun circuit training.
McInnis says: "We have had tremendous results so far with it, we have very low drop-out rates and have been able to include a nutritional component as well. Most importantly, we are able to attract kids who would not normally come to fitness programmes or join sports clubs.
"I think we have found a niche for kids who are drawn to computers, which promote inactivity, by using this technology to promote exercise."
An advisor and policy-maker with the American Heart Foundation, McInnis points out that obesity is escalating at an alarming rate among children and adolescents in the US, and Ireland is gaining fast.
Among children and teens aged six to 19 years in the US, nearly 30 per cent are overweight and 16 per cent (over nine million young people) are considered seriously overweight, a figure that has tripled since the 1980s.
A national survey of Irish children in 2002 found that the prevalence of obesity in Ireland was lower than the international average in 15-year-old boys, but higher in all 13-year-olds and in 15-year-old girls. About 25 per cent of Irish kids aged between four and 16 years 20 per cent are overweight and 6-10 per cent are obese.
McInnis says that similar to adults, obesity increased the potential for serious cardiovascular and other health problems in children, such as high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes.
"Recent research suggests that obesity shortens the average lifespan by at least four to nine months, and if childhood obesity continues to increase, it could cut two to five years from the average lifespan. That could cause our current generation of children to become the first in US history to live shorter lives than their parents," he says.
Not surprisingly, the trends in youth obesity mirror the epidemic of adult obesity in the US where there are now more people at an unhealthy weight than at a healthy weight. Overall, 62 per cent of US adults are considered overweight, of which 25 per cent are clinically obese.
Similar trends of escalating obesity exist among Irish adults. The North/South Ireland Food Consumption survey indicates that 39 per cent of the adult population are overweight and 18 per cent are obese.
Clear gender differences are seen in most countries with more women than men being obese. However, the prevalence of obesity in men has increased so rapidly in Ireland that it now exceeds the prevalence of obesity in women.
The causes of obesity are not that complicated, says McInnis.
Less activity combined with more energy-dense foods and drinks like sugary soft drinks and fried foods, often in big portions, add up to gradual excess pounds.
"The choices individuals make about what they eat and their activity level have an undeniable role in the rise of overweight and obesity. But individuals exist within social systems and so are influenced by a variety of forces.
"The environment plays a big role in influencing personal behaviour. Examples are less physical education at schools, unsafe walking routes and advertising of unhealthy foods aimed at kids," he says.
Athletic trainer James O'Toole of Sports MedWest in Galway says that while games like Trazer are not the complete solution to encouraging children to be more active, they are a start.
He believes the real issue that has to be addressed is the lack of equipment and expertise among teachers.
"A whole generation of parents are feeding their children the wrong food so we have a sub-group of obese children. We should take the US research into obesity, because they have been doing it for years, and apply it here to short circuit our mistakes," O'Toole says.