Physical education in schools

Posted on December 10, 2009 by Josh

Another great article from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, this one by Bryan McCullick, called Obesity won’t improve without reforming PE, sums up the thoughts of a lot of my classmates (and professors) from one class this past semester.

The article points out that PE is a wonderful method for preventing obesity, for informing young minds, and for creating healthy lifestyles. It also points out that PE is conspicuously missing from President Obama’s healthcare reform package.

“PE is at the core of promoting healthy choices. A comprehensive school program includes PE, health education, healthy food options, recess for elementary school students, intramural sport programs and physical activity clubs, and interscholastic sports for high school students. Ideally, schools would also include physical activity breaks, walk/bike to school programs, appropriate physical activity in after-school child care programs, and staff wellness programs.”

The above is, in fact, the definition of “physical educator” that my classmates and I arrived at this semester. And is the definition the physicians had in mind who created the field of kinesiology back in the early 1900′s.

Bryan gives us some good financial data:
“A 2009 report from the California Center for Public Health Advocacy on the annual economic costs of physical inactivity, obesity and being overweight in California estimated that in 2006 physical inactivity cost $20.19 billion, being overweight and obesity $20.98 billion. That’s more than $41 billion in economic costs for Californians alone.”

I’ve mentioned in previous blog posts the costs of “Non-Communicable Diseases.” When you consider that NCD’s include obesity, heart disease, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes, you have to wonder why more attention isn’t being given to physical activity on a national level.

Then Bryan gets to the point that really stuck with me this past semester…the one that I think is the major hurdle to all of this:
“The quality [my italics] of PE students’ need is glaringly omitted in anyone’s talking points in the health care debate. Overcrowded gymnasiums, insufficient or outdated resources, and sometimes inhumane working conditions (no air conditioning in gyms when school begins in August) are archetypal for many PE programs…Further, 33 percent of states reacting, again, to federal mandates for “highly qualified” teachers have relaxed licensure requirements for PE teachers. To help young people develop into physically educated individuals, a specialist with a body of knowledge and skills is needed in every school. The days of the ball-rolling, coffee-swilling, game-prepping PE “coach” have contributed to the current obesity rate increase.”

One of the things that happened to the field of kinesiology, the field of physical education, in the 1970′s, was that the academic began to split from the professional. That is, the people doing research and teaching academic classes were no longer the same people providing exercise advice, or dealing with human beings’ physical state as their daily work.

Soon thereafter, “physical educator” was a worthless term – and the profession went with the job. Schools figured, heck, anyone can teach a PE class. It’s just having the kids play around or something.

No more tying their Biology lessons into their own biology, or their Chemistry lessons into their own Physiology. No more education on the proper technique for performing certain movements, and the reasons behind that technique. Nor for the ways the body responds to various types of exercise.

The fact that I can work as a personal trainer has a lot to do with the terrible state of physical education in this country. Most of my clients are more than able and happy to exercise without paying another person to show them how – they just don’t know what to do or how to do it without potentially hurting themselves!

They always say that the best employee seeks to put him/herself out of a job, by making the connections needed across the organization to make themselves unnecessary. They create efficiency.

I hope to do the same thing with my training. It’s my new goal.

Job Title: Physical Educator

Good Calories, Bad Calories – Review

Posted on November 16, 2009 by Josh

Bread and butter?! Yummy!!! Ohhh....

On page 169 of his book, Gary Taubes quotes Albert Einstein, who once said that “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.”

Why didn’t Gary take Albert’s words to heart?!!!

This book is awesome, in every sense of the word. It is a comprehensive look at the research surrounding diet and obesity, since research in that area began.

It is also incredibly dense and difficult to read, and, I think, poorly structured. Themes, dates, studies, characters, are repeated throughout the book. I wish Gary had hired an editor!!!

That being said, the book is still incredible. It’s an amazing look into the vagaries of science – that there is essentially only conflicting evidence around the diet-heart, or cholesterol-heart hypotheses, and that those ideas have been driven mostly by fame-hungry researchers, or by the impetus of the thrust of research itself (once the general tenor is set, research tends to continue in the same direction). It is a fascinating look at human dietary physiology.

Earlier today, I was speaking with a client about this book, and saying that I had reached the point (at page 384…roughly 80 still to go, after two months of plodding) where I wished Gary had produced a Cliff Notes version of his book.

Then, lo and behold, on page 453-4 of the book, he does. I’ll quote the entire “summation” here, because I think the message is important. It goes against everything we’ve been told for the past 30-50 years. But that stuff wasn’t really backed up by anything at all. Read the following passage, and if you’re still interested, read the book!

“As I emerge from this research, though, certain conclusions seem inescapable to me, based on the existing knowledge:
1. Dietary fat, whether saturated or not, is not the cause of obesity, heart disease, or any other chronic disease of civilization.
2. The problem is the carbohydrates in the diet, their effect on insulin secretion, and thus the hormonal regulation of homeostasis – the entire harmonic ensemble of the human body. The more easily digestible and refined the carbohydrates, the greater the effect on our health, weight, and well-being.
3. Sugars – sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup specifically – are particularly harmful, probably because the combination of fructose and glucose simultaneously elevates insulin levels while overloading the liver with carbohydrates.
4. Through their direct effect on insulin and blood sugar, refined carbohydrates, starches, and sugars are the dietary cause of coronary heart disease and diabetes. They are the most likely dietary causes of cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and the other chronic diseases of civilization.
5. Obesity is a disorder of excess fat accumulation, not overeating, and not sedentary behavior.
6. Consuming excess calories does not cause us to grow fatter, any more than it causes a child to grow taller. Expending more energy than we consume does not lead to long-term weight loss; it leads to hunger.
7. Fattening and obesity are caused by an imbalance – a disequilibrium – in the hormonal regulation of adipose tissue and fat metabolism. Fat synthesis and storage exceed the mobilization of fat from the adipose tissue and its subsequent oxidation. We become leaner when the hormonal regulation of the fat tissue reverses this balance.
8. Insulin is the primary regulator of fat storage. When insulin levels are elevated – either chronically or after a meal – we accumulate fat in our fat tissue. When insulin levels fall, we release fat from our fat tissue and use it for fuel.
9. By stimulating insulin secretion, carbohydrates make us fat and ultimately cause obesity. The fewer carbohydrates we consume, the leaner we will be.
10. By driving fat accumulation, carbohydrates also increase hunger and decrease the amount of energy we expend in metabolism and physical activity.”

I’m going to go have a donut and some ice cream!!!

UPDATE – 2011
God-bless the ability to change our minds!

I read this book while in grad school, and understood some of the science, but had little time to really dig deep into Taubes’ arguments.

Needless to say, I also never stopped eating any sort of carbohydrate or modified my diet in any way (see my last statement…I literally did that that day…).

Since that day, I’ve read more deeply, and seen the ridiculous extent to which “paleo” and other low-carb advocates have gone in deriding carbohydrates of all sorts, and trying to push their bizarre dietary agenda on the world.

For instance – read this post.

So now, read this post, for the most comprehensive and thoughtful look I’ve ever seen at the carbohydrate/fat/obesity debate.

I’m starting to think that there’s nothing wrong at all…

Posted on October 6, 2009 by Josh

I went to the dentist today. Yes, everything’s fine, thanks. I love going to the dentist! The feeling of clean teeth afterward…amazing!

But this isn’t about the dentist, or teeth.

It’s about what’s wrong with the world these days!

More to the point, it’s that I’m not sure that there is anything wrong with the world these days.

My new dentist works in Presidio Heights, a very wealthy neighborhood in San Francisco. The streets are still lined with cars, in spite of massive garages and fenced-in driveways, but the cars here are BMW’s, Benzes, and other high-end “luxury vehicles.”

It’s situated up on top of the hill (hence the “heights” part) that rolls down to the Presidio (ergo “Presidio” part of the name) on one side, and the Marina neighborhood on the other side. It’s beautiful up there! Especially on a day like today…sunny, warm, wonderful!

As I walked back to my car, running my tongue over my squeaky teeth, I fell in behind a couple, walking to their car.

They were probably in their early forties. The man had a very nice suit and shoes. The woman looked like she just got out of the gym, spandex shorts, a t-shirt, Nike Shox. The man was a big fella. Probably 6’2″. He lumbered like a bear. Heavy guy. Maybe around 270. The wife was tall, too, hovering around 5’10″. Tall folks. She was a little plump around the midsection too. I’d put her around 200.

I was watching the way they walked. I like to watch people’s gait, try to figure out what’s bugging them, what they may have injured in the past, or present. They had gait distortions typical of overweight chair-sitters – their feet splayed out a bit, pushed off to the sides instead of straight back, etc.

Then I realized – neither of them probably has any difficulty getting around at all. I mean, they might get winded walking up the hill from the Marina (if they ever do that). They might have high blood pressure, and suffer from some complications of their lifestyle later in life.

But from the look of them, at that moment, neither of them looked to be in any pain or discomfort at all.

There was nothing wrong.

In the training world, we frequently ask people what their “goals” are. “What are you trying to accomplish?” We want, one, for the program to be focused and directed. We want our clients to work toward something clear, something specific. S.M.A.R.T. goals, as they say – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound (that is, there’s a date-goal).

We also want accountability. If you tell me your goal is weight-loss, and then you go have a medium pizza for lunch, I’ll know why you’re not getting any closer to your goal. Hopefully, stating the goal helps to keep your savage appetites in check.

Hopefully.

At the very least, if it doesn’t, you can’t blame me, the trainer, for your failure!

If you don’t have specific goals, well, we’ll make some up for you.

For one thing, you’re totally dysfunctional. Let’s just start there. You sit way too much. You eat processed foods. You don’t move enough at all, and certainly not in enough various ways to stimulate your body. You don’t sleep enough at night. And because of your inactivity, your muscles are horribly imbalanced in terms of strength/weakness, or length/shortness, or tight/looseness.

Well, there are some goals for you. Once we get past all that stuff that’s really wrong with you, we can start to think about getting you the Brad Pitt/Angelina/300/Mrs. Obama Arms look that you’re after.

But under the dross of catchy fitness goals, there lies a human being.

Underneath the blank stare, the blank dreams that come from media-hypnosis, there’s an individual. A person.

And what we do in the fitness world, often, is take that face at face value. We don’t want to dig. We don’t want to know about your upbringing. We don’t want to hear about your dog or your kids or your job. For chrissakes we aren’t your therapist! We’re your trainer! We train.

Now, let’s get back to those goals.

Meanwhile, on the surface, for most folks, everything’s fine. Sure the diabetes kicks in…but the doctor prescribes insulin. The gut gets huge, but I can get a gastric bypass. The headaches keep coming, but I can get sleeping pills, caffeine pills, something…give me something.

And everything is fine.

The doctors will take care of me. The system will take care of me. It has to. It is the system that made me.

And the human being underneath withers.

Use it or lose it.

And once it’s lost, it’s hard to get back…if not gone forever.

So this post actually, is about nothing at all.

The Marshmallow Test

Posted on September 22, 2009 by Josh

Here’s a video of the marshmallow test that my foot-camp friend sent me today:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWW1vpz1ybo&hl=en&fs=1&]

Before I write more…here’s another video, with a similar test…

History Eraser Button (Ren and Stimpy)

While the second video isn’t exactly the same…there’s something similar happening there.

The scientists who’ve written about the marshmallow test might lead you to believe that the children who could resist had higher levels of self-regulation. Their “executive function,” or ability to dictate their own actions in spite of urges, was better developed.

But they never asked the kids why they held out.

What if all the study shows is that children who hold out are more greedy than children who do not? Or that children who can make it are more likely to become fat than other children?

More importantly – why did the kids hold out? And why didn’t the researchers ever ask them?

You might say, “Oh, it’s self-evident. They restrained themselves so that they could have more marshmallows.”

But I think we should go deeper than that. Why, then, did they want more marshmallows?

Was the test done after the children had been starved for a certain amount of time? Now that would be an interesting study! Or was it done right before lunch, or right after lunch? What time was it? Do all children like marshmallows equally? Do all children automatically want more marshmallows?

The answer is – who knows! No one asked them.

Part of the temptation of temptation is temptation itself. What’s maddening to Tantalus is not that he constantly wants the grapes hanging over his head – that float away, just out of reach when he grabs for them – or the water that rushes from his feet as he tries to suck at it – It’s that he constantly wants those things…forever!

I mean, come on…wouldn’t it get old after a while?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EDeiC0OTJw&hl=en&fs=1&]

I think this joke has run its course…don’t you?

Indeed.

So what does it prove that the kids who could hold out could, and the ones who could not, could not?

Well, perhaps it proves many things, such as:

Self-regulation and self-denial are different animals, and should be studied differently
Self-regulation comes from a feeling of security, abundance, trust, and safety in ones environment and caretakers. Kids who eat the marshmallow don’t feel that way…
Kids who eat the marshmallow are hungrier than kids who don’t.
Kids who deny themselves the marshmallow grow up to have eating disorders.

But I digress.

I don’t think it really proves anything.

Want a marshmallow?

These are fake. If you come back and read some more, I'll give you real marshmallows...maybe.

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Diet…is there a mystery here, or not?

Posted on July 23, 2009 by Josh

I just read the most recent post over on “Mark’s Daily Apple,” called “The Definitive Guide to Saturated Fat,” and wanted to share my response here, on my blog, because I think it’s pertinent to the continuing diet debate in our country.

Here’s my comment:

I wonder about dietary information beyond “eat what’s natural (i.e., non-processed food, or efls’s, and being as “natural” as possible (untampered with, organic, etc.)), in season, from your local area.”

These studies all seem to point to one thing – people live for about 75-100 years.

The folks from the areas with higher mortality rates live in places where medical care and hygiene are comparatively low; and in some cases, where warfare or death due to violence is comparatively high.

The human body, like any organism, has a high degree of adaptability (which is why we’re still around), and it seems to me that the body will find a way to subsist on anything “natural” as long as it isn’t poisonous (either as a quality or as a quantity (excess)).

Fats, carbohydrates, proteins…whatever, in any crazy combination, as long as you aren’t getting too many or too few of one over the other two, which doesn’t really happen if you’re eating the way mentioned in the first paragraph.

After all of the reading I’ve done, having lived to this point and met people from all kinds of places and walks of life, etc., I really wonder about this topic a lot. As a lot of people mention, there is very little evidence that saturated fat intake (or cholesterol level) are directly correlated to heart disease or mortality, particularly when taken by themselves (without adding other risk-factors like smoking and other stressors).

Most people, especially in “first world” countries, where healthcare is efficient and swift, live to be about 75-100 years of age. The outliers eat EFLS (edible, food-like substances, per Michael Pollan), have high levels of stress, genetic diseases, etc.

I don’t know…I may be completely off base about this. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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The Missing Link

Posted on March 1, 2009 by Josh

Nature is the missing link in our culture. We’re out of touch with it, out of contact with our source.

When was the last time you took a walk in the woods? Not for any specific purpose, just to go take a walk. Unfortunately for many of us, nature is hard to get to. When we do get to it, it’s frequently overloaded with other human visitors, taking away the tranquility we might have expected to enjoy.

Let me give you an idea of how important regular contact with the natural world is.

Japanese researchers noted a significant decrease in all stress markers in their study comparing subjects in an urban environment to the same subjects in a wooded environment.

Another recent study by Australian researchers found that time spent outdoors increases physical activity levels in children, and results in a significant decrease in the chance of being overweight later in life.

Finally, for brevity’s sake, this 2005 study found that walking on cobblestones significantly improves balance and reduces blood pressure in older adults.

What do all of these studies have in common? They’re “discovering” the “benefits” for human beings of being an animal again.

Why do I put the word “discovering” in quotes? It seems redundant, and silly to say, but these “discoveries” are just “revealing” things that should be obvious – human beings are animals. We come from nature. We’re meant to be in natural settings. We’re meant to move on a regular basis, in natural areas, and to deal with all of the challenges those settings present – uneven ground, balance, swimming, carrying, lifting, running…

Go back to nature.

Soda Tax

Posted on February 27, 2009 by Josh

Felix Salmon remarks in his blog about the non-diet soda tax under consideration in New York state.

The tax is supposed to help reduce obesity, and close the $13.3b state deficit.

I’m amazed by this…almost to the point of silence. But not quite.

Possibly one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard. Tax non-diet sodas? How about taxing muffins? What about venti mocha latte’s at Starbucks? Tax the “danger dog” vendors extra too, while you’re at it. Then tax Nabisco, Johnson & Johnson, Proctor & Gamble, and all of the candy companies (Nestle, etc.). Then tax McDonalds restaurants more.

I mean, if New York is serious, they could make a lot of money here!

If not, it’s a stupid waste of time.

There’s a strong link between bad nutrition, lack of exercise, and poor sleeping habits and obesity. There’s also a strong link between poverty and obesity.

So, New York should take all of that tax money, build more jungle gyms around the city, provide free vegetables at the jungle gyms, and give everyone who shows up with last year’s tax form showing that they’re below the poverty line $100 for joining the workout and eating some carrots.

There’s your solution to obesity!

As for the state deficit…someday the people in our country are going to have to realize that in order to spend money, you have to make money. These absurd debts and deficits that we carry as a culture are symptomatic of a much bigger problem. You can’t spend what you don’t make. Obesity is another symptom.

You figure out the problem.

Why We Do It

Posted on November 23, 2008 by Josh

After the EA Summit, I’ve been giving a lot more thought to why we do what we do. In particular, I’m interested in why we continue to do what we know or believe is wrong. For example, cardiac patients who continue to eat unhealthy diets and live sedentary lives after their surgeries. It extends to very simple things as well, though. For example, the consumption choices we make on a daily basis. If I know that plastics are a threat to the global ecosystem, how could I continue to buy things that contain or are contained by plastics? If I know that shoes are detrimental to our health, why would I continue to wear them?

I’ll continue this inquiry on my own, and let you in on what I find out as any revelations present themselves to me…if you know the answer, let me in on it!