ABSTRACT
Q Why is being able to move well in different environments so important? Are children really less healthy and less fit than ever before?
Many young children love to run and jump, swing and climb and they do this with pleasure and with ease. They skip along pavements and hop over the lines that cross their paths. Many continue their active pursuits and enjoy sports training to a high level. In so doing, they are keeping fit and finding a life full of zest. Over more recent years, however, as computer games and safety concerns have intruded, a widespread concern that many of our young children are unfit and overweight has developed. This general change in lifestyle can lead children to avoid the very activities that help to keep them healthy. Both parents being out at work may also result in ready-prepared meals (which usually have a higher salt and fat content) being served more regularly than before. So an increasing number of children are obese; and this in turn has negative effects on their health, their self-esteem and their willingness to be active. Some of the headlines about this trend can be alarming. For example, ‘The 10-fold increase in children with diabetes is the tip of the iceberg’ (Telegraph 28 February 2006, based on a Department of Health report). The article goes on to explain:‘weight-related metabolic syndromes such as high blood pressure, increased cholesterol and fat in the blood are affecting 60,000 children.’
