At the Risk of Pointing Out the Obvious…
1. Show me 10 boys who can do pull ups and I’ll show you 10 boys who are not obese. *
2. Show me 10 girls who can do pull ups and I’ll show you 10 girls who are not obese.
3. Show me 10 families full of members who can do pull ups and I’ll show you ten families who don’t worry about obesity and all the related problems.
4. Show me an elementary or a high school full of students who can do pull ups and I’ll show you an elementary and a high school who’ve won the war on obesity.
5. Show me a school teacher, administrator, or a school board member who can do pull ups and I’ll show you a school teacher, an administrator, and a school board member who are all setting great examples for the kids in their schools to follow.
6. Show me a company (say McDonald’s) full of employees who can do pull ups and I’ll show you a company that’s healthy, energetic, productive, and inexpensive to insure.
7. Show me a police department whose members can do pull ups and I’ll show you a police department who doesn’t worry about the relationship between cops and donuts.
8. Show me a group of childhood obesity prevention experts who can do pull ups and I’ll show you a group of childhood obesity prevention experts who walk the walk.
9. Show me a town/city, a county, a state, or a nation whose citizens can do pull ups and I’ll show you a town/city, a county, a state, and a nation who’s won the war against obesity.
10. Show me a group of people who understand what you’ve just read here and I’ll show you a group of people who are unconfused and ready to rally around “A simple, easily implemented, easily documented, and affordable solution to childhood obesity.”
And Then, With a Straight Face…
1. Tell me why obesity prevention is so complicated and confusing that we’re unable stop it from growing like a California forest fire raging out of control?
2. Tell me why every gym teacher in America agrees with the claim that kids who can do pull ups are never obese, yet so few take the time to teach their kids to do pull ups and to become obesity beating heroes in their own local communities at the same time?
3. Tell me why America’s Surgeon General has named childhood obesity prevention his TOP PRIORITY yet to date has provided no actionable answers to the problem?
4. Tell me why the future and life quality of millions of boys and girls will be undermined and sacrificed by low self esteems due to ongoing battles with obesity?
5. Tell me why a charitable organization like the Robert Woods Johnson foundation has dedicated $500 million dollars over the next five years to defeating childhood obesity, yet after year one (one hundred million spent) they have so little to show for it?
6. Tell me why we’re spending countless billions as a nation on obesity related illnesses?
7. Tell me why people in high positions simply fail to act, even when the obvious is pointed out to them?
8. Tell me why common sense is so uncommon, and why the obvious is so hard to see?
9. Tell me why we continue to think that the emperors are wearing beautiful and stylish new clothes when they’re obviously standing stark naked in front of everyone, for anyone – with open eyes – to see?
10. And if this is true of an issue like childhood obesity prevention, doesn’t it make you wonder how many other blatantly obvious solutions to crucial problems are being completely and totally overlooked and ignored by our so called authorities, our so called experts, our so called leaders?
*Substitute any sufficiently challenging functional acid test (i.e. dips, rope climbing, rock climbing, hand stand push ups, superman push ups) in place of pull ups and the results will inevitably be the same.
According to recent government sources America spends over $120,000,000 (that’s Billion with a B) dollars annually on childhood obesity and related issues. That is to say we spend about the same on obesity as we’re spending on the Iraq war and we’re losing because the problem is getting worse not better. Not only that, we can’t pull out of this one even if we wanted to, which means we have to take a stand and fight.
Only One Percent
In this light I’d like to suggest that we take a mere ONE PERCENT of that $120 billion dollars and REDIRECT IT INTO A WAR ON CHILDHOOD OBESITY designed to naturally immunize kids against obesity for life, eliminate this plague within one decade, save the American taxpayer trillions over the same time period, immediately create 20,000 GOOD PAYING JOBS (400 per state), and improve the life quality and productivity of millions of kids from sea to shining sea.
Let’s Do the Math
Check out the math. One hundred twenty billion times one percent equals $1,200,000,000 (one point two billion dollars). If we paid each childhood obesity prevention specialist an average of $60,000 each we could hire 20,000 of them nationwide. This works out to be an average of 400 new childhood obesity specialists per state who would in turn work with schools, park districts, Boys and Girls Clubs, YM/WCA’s, and churches who are interested in helping their kids naturally immunize themselves against obesity for life.
Starting With Kindergartners
If we did nothing more than start with kindergarten classes across each state using simple height adjustable pull up bars together with a technique called leg assisted pull ups to help students learn to physically pull their own weight, 90% of all kindergartners would be naturally immunized against obesity for life by the end of the school year because kids who can do pull ups are NEVER OBESE. The other 10% would also be well on their way toward natural self immunization. Repeat this scenario for 10 straight years and childhood obesity would be ancient history like polio or the black plague.
2,000,000 Kids Annually Immunized Against Obesity
Let’s examine the possibilities in a little different way. Let’s say that each new specialist worked with (supported) only 10 other adults (teachers, park district, Boys and Girls Club, or pre-school employees) who in turn worked directly with at least 10 kids. Under those conditions we would naturally immunize 40,000 kids (10 X 10 X 400 = 40,000) against obesity for life in each state annually against obesity for life. Nationally that figure would be 2,000,000 kids who would be naturally immunized annually.
10,000,000 Kids Annually Immunized Against Obesity
But these figures are very conservative, the worst case scenario. Let’s say instead that each new specialist worked with 10 schools each week (one in the AM and one in the PM), and each school averaged 50 kindergartners. Under these conditions the number of kids naturally immunized against obesity for life annually explodes to 200,000 kids per state and 10,000,000 nationally.
And under those conditions childhood obesity would be completely eliminated in one decade or less, saving American taxpayer trillions, and making the lives of millions of American kids meaningful and productive in a way that they currently are not.
Meaningful Work Instead of Meaningless Repetition
One final note here is that the 20,000 jobs that we could create immediately with NO NEW MONEY, by redirecting what we’re currently spending in a productive direction, would create meaningful jobs that not only pay well and produce a humongous return on our nation’s investment in the personal infrastructure of our kids, but the childhood obesity prevention specialists themselves will know they’re doing something worth doing, something important, something that will make a difference in the lives of kids and parents across the USA, and maybe the world.
P.S. Dedicate 2% instead of 1% and you automatically DOUBLE these numbers!!
P.S.S. Can you imagine a stronger foundation for a prevention oriented American healthcare system than the elimination of childhood obesity within one decade?
In an age when research studies claim that 20% of American kids are obese by the age of 4; when physicians declare that they’d like to reverse childhood obesity, but they don’t know how to do it; when parents are so thoroughly confused by all the conflicting reports that they don’t know what to do, there is one physical educator who has some real, documented evidence we should all consider.Her name is Debbie Larson and she teaches at Galloway Elementary School in Channahon, IL, a small town about 40 miles south of Chicago. Galloway School is made up of second, third, and fourth graders, 538 kids in total.None Were Obese!Each fall and spring Larson measures her student’s performance in a battery of tests that includes pull ups. In doing so this past spring she noticed that 181 of her 538 kids were able to do at least one pull up. And of those 181 kids who could do at least one pull up, NONE WERE OBESE. That is to say one-third of her students could do at least one pull up and according to conventional BMI standards, NONE WERE OBESE.What’s in the Water?But that’s not the whole story. As it turns out only 1.5% of the group had BMI readings over 30 (which defines obese), while only 7% had BMI readings between 25 and 30 (which defines overweight). In total 91.5 % of Larson’s students fell below the 25 yard marker. And then we have those 181 kids mentioned earlier, all of which raises the question what’s in the water of Galloway Elementary School that makes it so unique?We Take it SeriouslyIn answer to that question Larson said, “All I can tell you is that we take Physical Education seriously and we work on motivating our kids to eat right and get plenty of exercise. But,” she said, “I was particularly interested in those 181 students who so convincingly demonstrated that pull ups and excess weight have a natural tendency to repel each other.”Becoming Obesity FreeAs the result, next fall Larson plans to add a new ingredient to the Galloway formula with which she aims to double the percentage of kids who can do at least one pull up next year. “And if we can double that percentage for two consecutive years,” Larson said, “Galloway will have beaten childhood obesity. This will be a school full of kids who are strong, lean, and who have effectively immunized themselves against obesity for life as long as they simply maintain the ability to do pull ups. That’s our goal. Now,” she added “does anyone else want to take the Pull Your Own Weight challenge along with us and rid their own school of childhood obesity?”
Childhood obesity is a deadly threat to adulthood; youth fatness brings heavy heart disease burdens in later life.Research has shown that there is a solid relationship between youth corpulence and insulin resistance; a marker of early diabetes in young adults. Apparently something must be done to improve awareness of what overweight and obesity are, and their implications for health. Overweight and corpulence in childhood have been shown to have serious long-term health consequences.Analysis has shown that stoutness and fatness in early days has an impact on adult health regardless of adult body mass index BMI. The stats for severe health risk are astounding, carrying great risk for untimely death, thus influencing the short and long term prospect for severe health problems such as Cancers (endometrial, breast, and colon) Coronary Heart Disease, Type II Diabetes, plus many other crucial health risks. When youth carry these health conditions into adulthood, it is much harder as an adult for your body to fight these unhealthy diseases. It is determined that more than 75-80% of overweight youth will remain overweight into adulthood.Studies has also revealed that as weight increase to reach the levels referred to as “overweight” and “obesity,” so does the risk increase for Hypertension (high blood pressure), Stroke, Dyslipidemia, Liver and Gallbladder disease, Sleep Apnea and Respiratory problems. Childhood obesity is a threat to adulthood because of these health conditions mentioned in this article.Parents who have children that are obese need to understand the seriousness of helping their child become fit and healthy while they are young. As the caregiver you have intellectual influence on your child by advocating certain values and attitudes, by rewarding or emphasizing specific behaviors, and by serving as role models. Parents are the policy makers for the home. They make everyday decisions on exercise-related activities; the parents regulate the setting for foods eaten in the home. The guardian definitely plays a role in helping to prevent youth fatness. It is much harder to loose weight as a grown-up, than it is while you are young.