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Graehm Gray: Your Child Needs 60 Minutes of Exercise Everyday!

Nerdel — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 13:25:36 +0000

Did you know that in the latest guidelines (Dietary Guidelines for Americans), all children (from preschool through age 18) should be physically active and get 60 (sixty) minutes of exercise/physical activity each and every day? Well it’s true. This exercise or activity does not have to be only from sports, but also can come from walking and playing (a.k.a. recess). And the exercise does not have to be done all at once. You can break it up into several periods throughout the day- for example: 6-ten minute episodes or 4- fifteen minute episodes.

Parenting tip#1: according to many studies, kids (and adults too) that are physically active have a lower risk of developing chronic diseases like obesity, type-2 diabetes, elevated BMI, stroke, coronary artery disease, colon cancer, osteoporosis elevated blood fats, elevated blood pressure and elevated insulin levels. On the other end of the spectrum, kids that are not active and are sedentary (e.g. sit in front of the TV or computer) have a much higher risk of developing chronic diseases like overweight, obesity, coronary artery disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, and certain types of cancer.

Parenting tip #2: If you eat 100 more food calories a day than you burn, you’ll gain about 1 pound in a month. That’s about 12 pounds in a year.

Here is a chart that shows the calories (units of energy) that you should be consuming if you are moderately active, active or sedentary.

Estimated Calories Needed by Gender, Age, and Activity Level
Gender	Age (Years)	Sedentary	Moderately Active	Active
Child	2 – 3	1,000	1,000 – 1,400	1,000 – 1,400
Female	4 – 8	1,200	1,400 – 1,600	1,400 – 1,800
	9 – 13	1,600	1,600 – 2,000	1,800 – 2,200
	14 – 18	1,800	2,000	2,400
	19 – 30	2,000	2,000 – 2,200	2,400
	31 – 50	1,800	2,000	2,400
	51+	1,600	1,800	2,000 – 2,200
Male	4 – 8	1,400	1,400 – 1,600	1,600 – 2,000
	9 – 13	1,800	1,800 – 2,200	2,000 – 2,600
	14 – 18	2,200	2,400 – 2,800	2,800 – 3,200
	19 – 30	2,400	2,600 – 2,800	3,000
	31 – 50	2,200	2,400 – 2,600	2,800 – 3,000
	51+	2,000	2,200 – 2,400	2,400 – 2,800

Important Activity links:

Bottom Line:

Learn to be active-get out and exercise! Parents that engage in physical activity with their kids and support their child’s fitness, have kids that are healthier and ones that remain physically active throughout their lives.
Kids need 60 minutes of activity daily, everyday!
You don’t have to do all of the 30-60-90 minutes of exercise at the same time. Breaking up the exercise into 10, 15 or 20 minute segments is just as beneficial!
Improve the strength of your muscles with resistance (“strength”) training. Examples include: sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups, bicep curls and rowing. Strength training can help maintain the integrity of our bones, increase the strength of our muscles, and will improve our balance, coordination, and mobility.

My friend’s, stay fit and healthy, The New Nerdel Way!

Graehm Gray: Donna Simpson-The World’s Fattest Woman! Give Me a Break! Top Story of the Week!

Nerdel — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 21:41:30 +0000

So let’s start with this one: they are calling her a wannabe “biggest woman in the world.” Donna Simpson, a young woman of only 42, and already the “World’s Fattest Mother” according to the Guinness Book of World Records , has been gracing the pages and television screens of virtually every news organization in the USA this week, claiming that she weighs 600 pounds and wants to go to 1000 pounds. What! That’s right-she is currently at 600 pounds-and by every measure and medical account-she is in the obese-morbidly obese category. According to many published reports (MSNBC, FOX News, Post Chronicle, etc.) she wants to be “World’s Fattest Woman.” And how will she get there-the answer-by eating over 12,000 calories a day. Many world class athletes and body builders will consume between 10 to 20,000 calories a day of course burning up between 3-5000 calories in their exercise regimen. Donna Simpson will only be burning up calories by breathing, eating or walking to the bathroom or bed room. What will this be costing her to get to this outrageous weight-well some estimates say between $500-1000 dollars a day in food costs. Now here is a major ridiculous part of this story-Donna has a web site where people can pay money to see her eat. OMG!!! Yes, by going to Supersizebombshells.com, you can see Donna and other plump, overweight, obese and morbidly obese individuals and pay money to see them eat. Can anyone who is reading this nonsense-say with me-Give Me A Break! I am upset that I went to the website to begin with-but in the course of writing about Donna, I wanted to verify the site. It exists. And people are actually paying money to see Donna eat. Haven’t we had enough of these reality shows? Now let’s get something straight. It can be said that there is much beauty in various body types. Granted-there many old and new painting masters (Peter Paul Rubens and Fernando Botero for example) that have painted overweight women. Beautiful paintings of these women hang in very famous galleries all over the world. Many of us have seen these images. The beauty is there, in front of us, preserved for the ages. However, I think the line has to be drawn at encouraging people with an obvious weight issue to do the thing that has bad medical consequences, gain more weight by eating foods that they shouldn’t be eating. Not only are people paying for these overweight individuals to eat, but eat all high calories, starchy carbohydrates-donuts, candy, sugar, sugar, sugar, and fat, fat, and more fat!!!! And oh yea- no exercise. What’s next-should we be paying to see smokers smoke, or drug addicts to use drugs, or alcoholics to drink alcohol? I think not. Should this be allowed on the internet or in any venue? My friends-the answer should be a resounding no. Yes, I respect our Bill of Rights. Believe in it to the max. But I can’t respect a money making situation-paying obese people to eat junk in front of a demanding public, only for that junk food and caloric load to be the cause of a severe, catastrophic medical problem that could occur at any minute. This is the antithesis of “The Biggest Loser.” Donna Simpson has stated to many news organizations that she is “healthy.” Donna, I want to help you-stop this foolishness. You are not only responsible for your life, but now you have a young child to care for as well. Your definition of “healthy” may not be accurate according to current medical standards. At your current weight, even if you don’t have any medical issues at the present moment, you are at risk of developing high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and joint problem just to name a few. Be a poster mom for good health habits-impress upon your daughter the healthy things to eat. Impress upon her the need to exercise. What happens if you end up with medical problems as a result of your obesity and can’t take care of your daughter? Could happen-and you increase the risk everytime you eat unhealthy foods and gain instead of losing weight. And do you seriously want to impress upon your daughter to follow in your footsteps? Could happen! Donna-make the right decision-get to a qualified medical professional to evaluate you and start your weight reduction program. Get into a healthy lifestyle-and that will be the most wonderful impression for your daughter-a record in itself!! One that you will be around to show her year after year!!!

Graehm Gray: Childhood Obesity Definitions – Part Two

Nerdel — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 01:09:51 +0000

Okay, let’s review: what do we know so far? A. We know that obesity is an extra accumulation of fat. B. We know that the problem is coming from an imbalance-more energy in the form of calories (food) coming into the body-our children are eating more and not enough energy (calories) being burned off-not enough exercise. C. We know that a pediatrician and researcher uses the Body Mass Index (BMI) as a way to identify weight problems in children-a way to measure your child’s weight against other children of the same age and sex and tell us whether he or she is at risk; D. We know that there are lots of consequences from being obese-heart disease, arthritis, sleep apnea and psychological problems and finally, E. We know that President Obama said that 30 percent of our children are either overweight or obese .So what’s next? Are we all sure we know whether our children are obese or just overweight? And what do we do to solve this problem? Class, let’s continue our journey-now Part two:

Overweight vs. Obese: (CDC) These are terms used to classify kids and adults and based on Body Mass Index (BMI-height and weight). BMI for kids and teens takes into account growth changes, differences in body fat between boys and girls. BMI calculator for Child and Teen. So go to your pediatrician’s (or primary healthy provider) office and get your child’s BMI measured. The BMI number will be plotted in a CDC BMI-for-age growth chart. You will find out whether he or she is in the A. Underweight category: less than the 5^th percentile, B. Healthy weight category: 5^th percentile to less than the 85^th percentile, C. Overweight Category: 85^th percentile to less than 95^th percentile and D. Obese: Equal to or greater than the 95^th percentile. This simple office visit will tell you all about where your child is relative to other children of the same age and sex. It will allow you to focus on how best you can help your child. Some school systems in the country, like in Arkansas, measure the BMI’s of their students and routinely send out a “BMI Report Card” to the parents. For most parents who actually look at the report, it is an eye opener. “How can that be,” we ask, “my child is not overweight and is definitely not obese.” But my friends, the harsh reality is that those of us that have heavier children underestimate our own child’s weight more often.

Calorie: is a unit of energy supplied by food. Proteins (soy, chicken, meat, fish), fats (butter, lard, olive oil, vegetable oil), and carbohydrates (sugars, glucose, starch, bread, pasta, rice) all have calories. It is the balance of calories that affects your body weight. To maintain your weight, you will eat about the same amount of calories as you are using/burning up-in your routine daily activities. To gain weight, you will eat more calories that your body is using, and to lose weight, you will either eat less calories than your body is using or you will burn up more calories in your daily activities (e.g. more exercise) with the same calorie intake.

How many calories equals one pound of fat: 3500.

It all comes down to balance. When energy in the form of calories or food enters the body, through normal body mechanisms and exercise or play, that energy is burned off. What is not burned off remains and is turned into fat. To maintain a weight, the balance of energy coming in and energy used is achieved. With more calories taken in than is used, there is a positive balance resulting in a weight gain. With less calories coming in than is used, there is a negative balance and a weight loss.

Portion Size: that amount of food that is consumed. Okay-now we have a problem. What exactly is a portion size? Is it the size of my fist? The size of the plate? We have grown accustomed to larger and larger portion sizes. In Europe, the portion sizes have been small. In Spain, with a meal called Tapas, the portions are small-called finger foods (appetizers). But here in the United States, we do things big! “Livin Large” is what we call it. And it’s true to the meaning. We are a large people and getting larger. Our portion sizes are huge. And we are exercising less. What does that mean-it means we are expanding our waist sizes at alarming rates.

How Many Calories Should My Child Eat? Look at the following table supplied by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) My Pyramid program:

Find The Right Calorie Level For Your Child

Portion sizes need to be controlled, but are we ready for that? Are we ready for the Portion Police or Exercise Police? Could happen! Stay tuned for part three.

Graehm Gray: Childhood Obesity Definitions – Part One

Nerdel — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 20:00:30 +0000

I guess by now, everyone, everywhere has heard that President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle have placed childhood obesity on the top of their “to get rid of” list. I think its actually ahead of some Republican pundits. Yes, childhood obesity has finally made it to the front page headlines. All of us in the press and academic fields have known for quite a while that our children have been gaining weight at an alarming rate. The President informed us that over 30 percent of our children are either overweight and or obese. We also have known that our children are not exercising as much. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that there is an imbalance-more calories going in and less calories being burned up. Result: a positive weight gain. Okay-that’s means overweight. But the one item that still needs clarification is: how do I know if my child is overweight or obese? I need to know that definition. So here is a sampling of what I could find out:

Merriam-Webster-doesn’t have a definition of childhood obesity. Their definition of obesity is: a condition characterized by the excessive accumulation of fat in the body (Merriam-Webster)
Medilexicon.com-Ideal Body Weight: a weight that is believed to be maximally healthful for a person, based chiefly on height but modified by factors such as gender, age, build, and degree of muscular development.(Medilexicon.com)

Healthline.com-An overweight child is one that has a BMI greater than 95 percent of children their age and gender. Healthline.com
Wikipedia- Childhood obesity is a condition where excess body fat negatively affects a child’s health or wellbeing. Wikipedia
National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI): Body mass index (BMI) is a measure of body fat based on height and weight that applies to both adult men and women BMI= Mass (kg)/ (height (m)) 2. (NHLBI) BMI Categories:

Underweight = <18.5
Normal weight = 18.5-24.9
Overweight = 25-29.9
Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater

Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):

Body Mass Index (BMI) is used as a screening tool to identify possible weight problems for children and risk of weight-related health problems. BMI measures excess body weight for a particular height. CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommend the use of BMI to screen for overweight and obesity in children beginning at 2 years old. For children, BMI is used to screen for obesity, overweight, healthy weight, or underweight. BMI is NOT a direct measure of body fat but has been shown to correlate with body-fat. For example, a child may have a high BMI for age and sex, but to determine if excess fat is a problem, a health care provider would need to perform further assessments. These assessments might include skin fold thickness measurements, evaluations of diet, physical activity, family history, and other appropriate health screenings.

Obesity defined: Obesity is the result of caloric imbalance (too few calories expended for the amount of calories consumed) and is mediated by genetic, behavioral, and environmental factors and can lead to health risks as elevated cholesterol, triglycerides and insulin levels, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, orthopedic complications and mental health problems.

How Do You Determine A Child’s Weight Status: (Body Mass Index Measurement in Schools, Journal of School Health d December 2007, Vol. 77, No. 10 d ª 2007, American School Health Association) Weight Status in a child and adolescent is determined by comparing their BMI to other youth of the same sex and age in a reference population. Childhood growth changes are taken into account. Once the BMI is calculated for a child, it is plotted by age on a sex-specific growth chart and converted to percentiles. A child’s BMI-for age is then identified. (For example a 10 year old boy at the 95^th percentile has a higher BMI than 95 out of every 100 10 year old boys in the reference population).

BMI-for-age weight status categories and the corresponding percentiles are shown in the following table.

Weight Status Category	Percentile Range
Underweight	Less than the 5th percentile
Healthy weight	5th percentile to less than the 85th percentile
Overweight	85th to less than the 95th percentile
Obese	Equal to or greater than the 95th percentile

Obesity consequences: Obese youth are more likely to have risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure. In a population-based sample of 5- to 17-year-olds, 70% of obese youth had at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Children and adolescents who are obese are at greater risk for bone and joint problems, sleep apnea, and social and psychological problems such as stigmatization and poor self-esteem. Obese youth are more likely than youth of normal weight to become overweight or obese adults, and therefore more at risk for associated adult health problems, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, several types of cancer, and osteoarthritis.

So there you have it. This is part one of my search for the explanation of what childhood obesity is, how it is defined, what makes a child overweight and what makes him or her obese. Which populations are more at risk, causes and solutions in my next installment.

If we can all agree on what the definition of childhood obesity is, we can look at our own children and see if they have a high BMI and or are they at risk. It is always up to us, as parents to look out for our children. It is our responsibility. Let’s not place the entire blame on the schools, the teachers, the fast food restaurants, the food companies or our government. We need all of them to help us help our kids. It needs to be a group effort. So to paraphrase the words of our First Lady, Michelle Obama, “let’s move!”