‘Tis the season to be jolly, fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, laaa!
I’m sure those of you who celebrate the Christmas holiday hear this tune numerous time throughout the season. They may even conjure up the image of the jolly, fat man himself. Kris Kringle a.k.a. Santa Claus. Well, the large, jovial picture we all get of that man spreading happiness and cheer throughout this time of year is starting to become more and more prominent during the whole year, not just the time of the winter solstice. I’m not talking about the picture of happiness and joy either. Most of all, it is being seen in our youth. Childhood obesity is a major issue within our world today. How do we fix this? Who is to blame? What will be the possible outcome of this?
Well, one possible result is already starting to rear its ugly head. Pain. In getting one of my many google news updates each day, I stumbled across this article from Massagemag.com click here. The experts are finding results already that there is a startling number of overweight children between the ages of 6-19, but that more than half of these children are starting to show abnormalities in their spine! A 15 year-old with degenerative disk disease, how scary does that sound. What can be done? It will not be an easy fix nor one that comes without work, but change is necessary. One part of the solution is something that is already out there and one that kids need to rediscover for themselves (and maybe with some encouragement). That one thing is play. Allow these kids to be kids and just play.
The Egoscue Foundation and it’s PATCH program is a way to allow kids to get back to play. With the Egoscue Method principals of posture, alignment and movement, it may be possible for us to tackle this issue head on. The goal of the Egoscue Foundation is to donate these PATCH’s to every school across the country, so children can have the opportunity to re-learn how to play. With no limits and no expectations on the children, its a great way for kids to be kids. If anyone would like more information on the Egoscue Foundation or the PATCH click the links above.
There are a number of other great organization which are also a part of this process. Another more well-known organization would be the NFL Play 60 program. This program, which ironically does have a partnership with the Egoscue Foundation, asks children to get a minimum of 60 minutes of play each day. I think this program and there message is perfect! Let’s go and find more organizations like these to bring together.
So, who ever reads this, let’s start this ball rolling. With the “fat-man” coming, there is no better time than now to start this! If you know of any other organizations that would be in line with this, let’s get them together. Let’s start today and make a difference for our children, their children, etc. Change takes time, but there is no better time than now to start!
Deck the halls, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone.