The Pica Perspective

Putting Family First

Yesterday I interviewed Dr. Bill Doherty for Body, Mind and Child. Bill is a board member for Putting Family First and co-author of a book by the same name. So, I've decided to offer up the following post again, which first appeared here last September...

About six years ago, when I was researching my book, Your Active Child (horrible title, but it was the publisher's choice, not mine), I came across an organization called Putting Family First. According to their website, the need for such an organization stemmed from the difficulty individual parents have in prioritizing family life in "a culture that defines good parenting as providing more and doing more for one's children." They explicitly state that they're not an anti-sports movement. However, while they believe sports can provide positive experiences, they consider today's "preoccupation with competition has diminished the rewards of sports" while also diminishing the quality of life for many.

According to a study conducted by the Family Social Science Department at the University of Minnesota, over the last 20 years there's been a 33% decline in families who regularly eat dinner together. Research further shows a 28% decrease in the number of families taking vacations and a 100% decrease in household conversations!

Over the same period structured sports time has doubled. Passive, spectator time -- the kind involved in watching sports -- has risen from 30 minutes a week to over three hours a week. And that doesn't even include time spent watching sports -- or anything else -- on TV!

For all these reasons a group of citizens in Wayzata, Minnesota, founded Putting Family First, a grassroots organization "where family life is an honored and celebrated priority. The democratic theory underlying this work is that families can only be a seedbed for current and future citizens if they achieve a balance between internal bonds and external activities." (It always comes down to balance, doesn't it?)

The organization's "desired future for families" is that:

• Families make family time and family activities a high priority in their decision making.
• Families set conscious limits on the scheduling of outside activities to honor the values they hold about family time.
• Families set limits on television, the Internet, and other electronic media if these are dominating family life inside the home.
• Families seek out ways to participate together in activities that build and serve their communities.
• Schools, faith communities, neighborhoods, and other groups provide families with resources to develop deeper bonds in a fragmenting world.
• Schools, faith communities, neighborhoods, and other groups offer regular intergenerational activities so that whole families can participate.
• Community activity groups of all kinds have explicit working policies that acknowledge, support, and respect families' decisions to make family time a priority.
• Employers have explicit working policies that honor families' time and energy needs.

Sounds good to me!

You've Got the Power

In reading Judith Warner's Perfect Madness: Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety, I was saddened by her contention that in America motherhood was a lot less fun than it had been in the first few years of her daughter's life in France. Because everyone was "too busy with 'activities,'" she lamented the loss of such simple pleasures as "pushing the stroller somewhere pretty for a walk" and "spending lazy weekend days in the park with another family." As you can see, she's not asking for the moon. Rather, she feels it was these little things that brought joy to the process of parenthood (and, certainly, her daughter's childhood).

As a parent, you have a great deal of power. There's no reason why such simple pleasures can't belong to you and your family. By shifting priorities and determining that racing is no way to run a life, you can ensure there's time for strolls and lazy weekends. Seem like a tall order? I know. But it's really just a matter of starting small. As a parent, you have the power to say no to your child. You can decide to balance family time and downtime with outside activities. You can decide to abide by the recommendation of the National Association of Elementary School Principals, which is that young children participate in only one activity per season, and only if it meets just once or twice a week.

You and other parents can take a stand with organizations that seem determined to interfere with family dinners, Sundays, holidays, and vacations. Once upon a time, children's sporting events and other extracurricular activities were scheduled in consideration of these family times. If enough parents speak up, they will be again. If enough parents refuse to enroll their children in organizations that don't put family first, things will have to change.

When one of my cousin Lisa's sons was 8, he really wanted to play Pop Warner football. But when Lisa found out what the schedule was (it started in August, and the kids would have to practice five days a week, from 4:00 to 8:00; then, once school started, it would be three days a week, from 4 to 7), she decided that balance was more important for him and for her family -- and that dinners and summer vacation took precedence. Her son was disappointed, but it didn't take long for him to get over it. And Lisa knew that if he eventually wanted to play football, he'd be better at it for having waited until his mind and body were ready.

It's helpful to remember that there are more of you than them. There are more families than Pop Warner teams. More parents than coaches. If something matters enough to you and you put your power behind you, change can happen. As an example, a number of moms around the country have made impressive progress in their attempts to restore recess to their children's schools. in one case, two mothers teamed up to collect 750 signatures on a petition requesting that the school board mandate two recesses daily. They also addressed the school board and lobbied school officials. A few months later, the board agreed to extend the school day by 10 minutes to make two recesses possible.

As it states at Putting Family First: "We need a commuity movement because it is difficult for parents to take back family life in a culture that defines good parenting as providing more and doing more for one's children."

But it does take one individual to start a community movement. You could be that person!

Children & the Arts

Received an e-mail yesterday from Rourke O'Brien, president of the Children's Music Foundation. His message was just one line:

I’m always amazed at how much money is spent researching the obvious….;)

And, with that, he sent me a link to an article about studies being conducted on the benefits of the arts to children. More to the point, the research is specific to the role of the arts in brain development. For example, scientists are looking at whether students at an arts high school who study music or drawing have brains that allow them to focus more intensely or do better in the classroom. They're asking: Does putting a violin in the hands of an elementary school student help him to do math better? Will learning to dance or paint improve a child's spacial ability or ability to learn to read?

While I certainly appreciate the attention being paid to the arts, I'm nevertheless troubled by the focus of these studies. Why, I wonder, is art only valuable as a means to an end? Why does it have to improve academics to be of value? Isn't it enough that it's a tool for self-expression and creativity? If all the arts did for children was enhance a sense of aesthetics -- awareness of the beauty around us -- wouldn't that be reason enough to give children artistic experiences?

Head Start Body Start

Last week I attended a meeting of master trainers for the new Head Start Body Start National Center for Physical Development and Outdoor Play. The center was created with a $12 million grant from the Office of Head Start, with the intention of increasing the levels of physical activity among children in Head Start programs. HSBS will provide grants of up to $5,000 to Head Start centers nationwide to improve their outdoor play space. Grants recipients will also receive targeted training and technical assistance from HSBS, including on-site consultation from a physical activity expert and access to on-line training. (The Play Space Grant RFP was released on May 15th. To access the RFP visit  the HSBS website.)

I have to admit I had mixed feelings about heading to Reston VA and HSBS headquarters. Although I'd agreed, when the grant was being written, to act as a master trainer should the grant be received, that was many months ago. Since then I've been busy, busy, busy; and BAM! has keep me pretty involved. I really didn't want to leave all my other work behind even for a few days.

Then our meetings began. Involved were four other master trainers and four HSBS staff members. And it was incredible. The energy in that conference room was amazing.

First of all, because I work mostly alone, it was a wonderful feeling to be surrounded by a room full of people who are passionate about early childhood physical activity. There are maybe only a couple of dozen of us in the country, so it's astonishing to even find a room full of people passionate about such a subject. And because everyone in that room felt so strongly about the contribution we could make to Head Start children -- and possibly children everywhere -- I renewed my dedication to the field I've been involved in for almost 30 years.

One of the most powerful moments came during a presentation by Nilda Cosco, an HSBS advisory board member and Education Specialist for the Natural Learning Initiative. Nilda showed us slides of outdoor settings and children's experiences in them (many of which were in Europe, unfortunately). In one (which did take place in Europe), a little girl sat on a hot day with her bare feet cooling in a stream. Nilda told us that she'd watched the little girl for about 15 minutes, during which the child gazed into the water and quietly sang to herself.

It was the kind of experience every child should have -- and so few do. And as my eyes filled with tears, I gazed around the room and saw I wasn't the only one who was moved.

So, yes. I have most definitely renewed my commitment to the work I've been doing for three decades. To children's active play -- and to as much of it as possible taking place outdoors!

A Study I Can Get Behind

"If future research backs up our findings, we would do better to encourage young children to do what they do naturally, rather than trying to enforce long exercise sessions on them. This could be a useful way of improving enjoyment and sustainability of healthy physical activity levels in childhood."

Those are the words of Michelle Stone of the University of Exeter, lead researcher of a new UK study published in the International Journal of Pediatric Obesity. The findings suggest that children should be encouraged to engage in frequent, short periods of activity. The good news? This is the way children naturally behave.

Perhaps you recall this from your own childhood. Or you've watched your child at play. Young children have wonderful, alternating rhythms in their play. They'll run wildly for a bit, then stop to watch the progress of a caterpillar, then go on their way, skipping across the yard. Eventually they're running wildly again.

Studies suggest that children between ages 6 and 10 rarely remain active for more than 5 to 10 minutes, and that the average duration of activity bouts is actually around 20 seconds. This is especially true of the more vigorous activities, like running and jumping. So it's very good news to learn that "physical activity is associated with health, irrespective of whether it is accumulated in short bursts or long bouts," according to Dr. Stone.

A number of professional organizations, including the National Association for Sport & Physical Education (NASPE), recommend that young children accumulate a minimum of 60 minutes a day of unstructured physical activity, and that they do so by taking part in short bouts of moderate- to vigorous-intensity activity. The research supports this. Now all we have to do is give children the time, space, and opportunity to accumulate those bouts.

Making Sense of Research

I'm often heard lamenting the fact that we have all kinds of wonderful research that the policy makers choose to ignore. For example, there's plenty of research showing the benefits of play and physical activity for children, even as it applies to brain and cognitive development. Yet schools and society insist on thinking of the mind and body as separate entities, forcing children to do without play and physical activity.

As frustrating as that is, it's equally frustrating when studies contradict one another. When one study shows that children who are more active in school are more active out of school but another (a recent one) determines that extra physical education time doesn't increase children's activity levels. How are we to know what's what?

One recent study has me particularly troubled. It showed that eating more, not exercising less, is causing the problem with childhood overweight and obesity. According to study author Boyd Swinburn, chair of population health and director of the World Health Organization’s Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention at Deakin University in Australia, today’s children eat about 350 calories a day more than did kids in the 1970s. To offset those calories with exercise would require 150 minutes more of walking each day. Which, I have to admit, isn't very likely, especially in today's sedentary culture.

I'm not surprised to learn children are consuming 350 more calories a day than they did 30 years ago. But I am concerned by the number of times this study turned up in my Google alerts with a headline that indicated physical activity has nothing to do with the childhood obesity crisis. What if people don't read beyond the headline? Will they stop listening when people like me proclaim that physical activity matters? And will the next study, which may declare lack of physical activity as the problem, get as much press? And even if it does, how will people know what to believe?

And the Message Is?

Have you seen the new television commercial for Dunkin’ Donuts? I don’t know if the company is nationwide; if not, you may not know about Dunkin’ Donuts.

 

As a New Englander I’ve known about Dunkin’ Donuts since I was a kid. Of course, back then we didn’t have a childhood obesity crisis. We had maybe one “fat kid” in school. That was typical at the time. So nobody thought twice about commercials for fried globs of dough and sugar, double bacon cheeseburgers, or breakfasts with enough calories and fat to clog arteries in an instant. It absolutely amazes me that such ads still run on TV. I mean, not only do we have an epidemic of childhood obesity; we’re pretty much a nation of weight-challenged people in general.

 

So, the other night I’m sitting on the couch sorting through days’ worth of catalogs and newspapers. The TV was on, but since I mute it when the commercials come on, I have no idea what this particular ad said. All I know is that I looked up in time to see three children vegging out on a couch in front of a television set. Suddenly three beams of light attach themselves to each of the children, raise them off the couch and, zombie-like, float them toward the TV.

 

Interesting, I thought. Children often become zombie-like when they spend too much time in front of a TV. So I certainly agreed with the sentiment at that point. Just then, however, dad came to the door of the TV room. As I said, my television was muted, so I don’t know what he said. All I know is what I saw: He’d brought home a big box of Dunkin’ Donuts and was “rescuing” the children from their zombie state by enticing them with the goodies. Released from the beams of light, they raced happily into the kitchen to partake in big fried globs of dough and sugar.

 

Now, I’ll admit I love a good donut. The

Boston

crème pie donuts are to die-for. But I rarely eat one since someone told me it takes three days to digest a single one. But I wouldn’t suggest that no one ever eat one, or that a family not occasionally partake of a fried and fatty treat. However, the visual message I witnessed caused my jaw to drop yet again.

 

I hope the next time that particular commercial plays on my TV that I have the sound on. Because I am really curious as to what the message of such an ad could be. “Are your children couch potatoes? Get them up off the couch and away from the TV with donuts!”

 

Really? What advertising agency would think up such a concept in an age of childhood obesity? And why would any company agree it was a good idea?

 

 

Let Children Have Childhood

I don't know why it is I can still be surprised by people. Perhaps especially by parents. But every time I think I've heard or seen it all, along comes something else that makes me drop my jaw and shake my head in wonder and dismay. This week it was a story in the New York Times about an 8-year-old racecar driver.

Yup, that's what I said. Macy Causey is 8 years old and whipping around a race track in her black and pink, 30-horsepower, $3000 racecar known as a Bandolero. The car was a birthday gift for Macy. But if you think that's a bit pricey, consider what the family spent on the hauler, which is like a studio apartment and cost $300,000. Two hours of practice time on the track costs $400.

Macy's car can reach 75 miles per hour, but on the day the reporter visited the track,the 8- to 11-year-old drivers were limited to 60 mph.

According to the article, Macy has racing in her blood. In 1978, her grandmother was the first woman to win a Nascar-sanctioned race. And, of course, Macy loves what she does. No one can claim these parents are pushing their child to do something she doesn't want to do. She was "hooked" the first time she tried it. She likes going fast, and she likes spinning out. Her mom says she also has "no fear." In her first exhibition race Macy "hit a kid. She plowed right through him.”

Well, that's something to be proud of.

Also according to the article, racing these cars may be even safer than playing Pop Warner football or baseball.

Well, alrighty then.

Granted, there are relatively few families who can afford to have their children participate in such extravagant extracurricular activities. But the extravagance isn't the point (although it certainly helps demonstrate the lengths to which some parents will go). The point is that Macy and Jessica Dubroff, the 7-year-old who was attempting to be the youngest person to fly an airplane across country when the plane crashed, killing her, her father, and her flight instructor, are/were children, not adults. Yet they are/were participating in adult activities. As is every little girl who takes part in a beauty pageant. And every kid whose Little League game is televised on ESPN. Every child, in fact, who is enrolled in an organized activity that is directed by adults and conducted with adult rules, and in which they're expected to perform like the pros and/or people at least four times their age, is not living life as a child.

Remember childhood? Those were the days -- unlike any others we've had since or will ever have again. Even vacations can't begin to compare. It may not have been like living at Disneyland; even as children we had occasional worries, but if you're like me, the magic and the wonder are what you retained. And having that once-in-a-lifetime chance to be a child is what sustains you now, when life isn't always magical or wonderful.

Isn't childhood what every parent should want for her or his child?