Features
It Does a Body Good
New school activity program has U of G fitness and lifestyle supervisor encouraging youngsters to get a move on
BY DAVID DICENZO
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| Pat Richards with local grade schoolers taking part in a new physical activity program she developed. Photo by Martin Schwalbe |
As a former teacher, Pat Richards has always had a genuine concern for children. But the University's longtime supervisor of fitness and lifestyle programs is more concerned than ever because of the disturbing increase in the number of Canadian kids dealing with obesity and Type 2 diabetes.
The trend has prompted Richards to develop an activity program called Movin' On, a pilot project that was launched in three Guelph elementary schools this month.
“We know the situation is critical because we're beginning to see children with Type 2 diabetes, which typically is a disease of a 50-year-old,” says Richards, a former high school phys ed teacher and founder of the Gryphon Activity Camp. “We're starting to see it in 13- and 14-year-olds. It's directly affected by activity and nutrition. And it can be reversed.”
Getting children to move more is the first challenge in tackling the crisis facing Canadian youth. For various reasons — including technology and parents' need to know where their kids are at all times — children are playing less than in the past, says Richards. Adults require 30 to 45 minutes of physical activity a day, but because their bodies and organs are developing, children typically require three times that, she says.
Many just aren't getting the amount of activity they need, which can lead to a greater risk of health problems while also affecting their development as individuals, she says.
“What happens is that kids become motivated by these outside forces. They don't acquire the ability to entertain themselves, and that has a direct impact on their health, their social development and their psychological development.”
The serious state of the problem became clearer in May 2005 when Active Healthy Kids Canada released the first-ever report card on children's activity, with the country receiving an overall grade of D. When the Ontario Ministry of Education announced that schools must provide a daily 20-minute program to address the activity issue, Richards knew it might be a tough challenge for teaching staffs across the province and applied for some funding to create a program in Guelph.
She raised $26,500 with help from a Communities in Action grant to develop Movin' On, a three-pronged approach that's being implemented at Westwood Public School, Tytler Public School and St. Patrick School.
“Pat initiated this project out of concern for the fitness levels of young people and as part of our department's desire to begin some collaborative initiatives with the Guelph community,” says Tom Kendall, director of athletics. “We think this is just the beginning of some exciting projects for the future, and Pat is committed to ensuring that this project is delivered in a professional manner.”
Movin' On features a creative play component, a playground games component and a portion dedicated solely to movement. In the first component, children use their imagination to develop games so they can learn to rely on their own creativity to have fun. The second component reintroduces today's computer-savvy generation to games that were once common on the playground, such as hopscotch, tag and marbles.
“We've lost them a little bit,” says Richards. “The idea is to teach these games to the kids so they can take them out to the playground and get together in groups and play. There's a huge social component to this.”
Dance plays a big role in the movement part of the program, with the children performing various dances to develop “patterning of the feet.” Young people are much more engaged when music is involved in a learning program, she says.
Richards has assembled teams of U of G students, recent graduates and staff to deliver the 40-minute programs three to four days a week at lunchtime. They're running for six weeks this semester, then will start up again in January.
Each of the participating schools has different needs and demographics, she says, but the program is designed to be flexible.
Richards notes that the program is just the “tip of the iceberg” when it comes to changing the activity levels of Canadian children, but they can change. And efforts like Movin' On can make a difference, she says.
“The human body loves to be active, and it responds in a very positive way if it's active. If it's not, it responds in a negative way. That's just how it functions. Activity affects self-esteem and gets individuals in charge of their own lives. When the body's happy, you're going to be happy.”