Kids and Exercise Deprivation

As a child of the 60s and 70s, I remember back to the kinds of required activities we used to do in our gym classes that my kids and today’s generation have missed out on. Long gone are the days of trampolines, gymnastic apparatus, and climbing ropes to the top of the gymnasium rafters. I’m sure that insurance concerns were at work during their demise. Today, I’ve even heard parents lament over the fact that their kids aren’t even required to engage in physical education class activities where they break a sweat. Add to this the demise in outside play and a more sedentary screen-watching lifestyle, and our kids are not getting the kind of physical activity needed for healthy growth and development. Recent research from the World Health Organization indicates that globally, eighty-one percent of kids ages eleven to seventeen are not getting the recommended one-hour of moderate to vigorous activity that’s needed to facilitate physical health. Are your kids exercising their God-given bodies?