My Connections to Play

Quotes:

Play energizes us and enlivens us. It eases our burdens. It renews our natural sense of optimism and opens us up to new possibilities.

Stuart Brown, MD
Contemporary American psychiatrist                                                

Creative people are curious, flexible, persistent, and independent with a tremendous spirit of adventure and a love of play.

Henri MatisseFrench painter                                                                       

Retrieved from:www.thestrong.org/about-play/play-quotes

Retrieved pictures from www.picturesof.net/search_term_pages/children_playing.h...

Playing is a much needed activity in early childhood, because it helps prepare a child for school. When a child is engaged in hands on activities, they learn to refine their listening and reasoning skills. They are able to learn through touch, sight and sound.

As a child, I remember playing teacher, being a cook, policeman, doctor, decorator, singing songs, making sand castles, collecting sea shells, ran races and playing family games with my family. Each time we played it was about exploring and learning. We learned how to solve problems, expand our vocabulary, share, negotiate, and enjoy each other’s company. With my friends, I played with as well as the coaches at school, promoted play. It gave us a chance to unwind, relax, and laugh with one another as well as keeping us physically fit. Unlike today, parents are not promoting play at home. Playing is done at school or by playing video games, googling on the internet and watching television. Whatever happened to playing outside until the street lights came on? By children playing video games, watching television and googling on the internet are not worried about weight. Instead obesity is becoming a common problem among our children today when it states that they need more physical development.

As a child, I had an urge to learn new things through exploration as an adult I still learn by exploring.

Chid Obesity

Child obesity is a serious medical condition that affects children and adolescents. It occurs when a child is well above the normal weight for his or her age and height. Child obesity is particularly troubling because the extra pounds often start children on the path to health problems that were once confined to adults, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Child obesity can also lead to poor self-esteem and depression. Diabetes is something that is apparent on both sides of my family; both parents have it. With me having young nieces and nephews who struggle with weight, I decided to do research to see how other kids compare.

Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Council indicate that obesity rates have quintupled among 6-11-year-olds and tripled among teens and children ages 2 to 5. Many schools and child care centers are heeding the medical and government warnings about overweight children and changing the type of food being served and the amount of rigorous exercise planned on a daily basis.

An investigation of the pediatric population of Pescara province, Italy, in 2001 - 2002 academic school year concluded that the obesity problem is urgent. In both Italy and the United Kingdom there are nearly twice as many boys aged 5 to 17 who are obese than in Germany or the Czech Republic. Coupling the lack of physical activity with the prevalence of junk food, excess sugar and fats in the diet, one can expect this trend to produce an even larger segment of the world population having Type 2 Diabetes.

30 per cent of British five- to nine-year-olds are overweight or obese and this is expected to rise to 36 per cent by 2011, shows the Datamonitor report. Italy currently has a higher number of overweight children than the US, although the US leads in obesity figures. By 2011 however, the UK, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands will have almost caught up with the rate of obese children in the US (16 per cent).

Another study done showed that the actual number of children of elementary school age (6–11 years), estimated that there are 383,000 obese children in Italy; 105,000 in the north, 63,000 in the centre and 215,000 in the south. In terms of childhood health outcomes associated with obesity, the estimated numbers of prevalent cases of selected cardiovascular and metabolic diseases and conditions among obese elementary school children in Italy are also high. There would be approximately 100,000 children between the ages of 6 and 11 with hypertension and with high cholesterol (3% of the entire school age population), more than 150,000 with hyperinsulinemia (4.6%), 45 000 with glucose intolerance, more than 125,000 with hepatic statuses, and nearly 5,700 with type 2 diabetes (0.2%).The estimated number of children affected with each health problem was double for southern Italy compared with northern Italy despite the slightly larger population of children in the north.

There are more than 380,000 obese children in Italy, with a disproportionate burden in southern Italy. Providing the type of comprehensive care recommended to clinically treat obesity, which includes family involvement, a developmentally appropriate approach, behaviour modification, dietary changes, and increased physical activity etc. The estimated number of obese children in the south is double that of the north is of particular concern in an area with a chronic shortage of funds and long waiting lists for specialist services.

After doing this research, learning more about child obesity has had a tremendous impact on me. It has made me more aware of this trend that seems to be happening globally. I never thought Italy, which is one of the worlds most notable fashion place and famous diets, would have an issue with child obesity. In my future work, I plan to instil in my students the importance of eating and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I will let them know how this may affect their everyday activities including their school work.

Sources:

·         Gallus S, Colombo P, Scarpino V, Zuccaro P, Negri E, Apolone G, La Vecchia C. Overweight and obesity in Italian adults 2004, and an overview of trends since 1983. Eur J Clin Nutr 2006; 60: 1174–1179.

·         www.nutraingredients.com

·         News.com.au