Environmental Dad

In 1969, 41 percent of children either walked or biked to school; by 2001, only 13 percent still did, according to data from the National Household Travel Survey. In many low-income neighborhoods, children have no choice but to walk. During the same period, children either being driven or driving themselves to school rose to 55 percent from 20 percent. Experts say the transition has not only contributed to the rise in pollution, traffic congestion and childhood obesity, but has also hampered children’s ability to navigate the world.

via The Walk-to-School Fight – NYTimes.com.

One problem may be that the American environmental movement has focused so much on preserving nature that it has neglected to do enough to preserve a constituency for nature. It’s important not only to save forests, but also to promote camping, hiking, bouldering and white-water rafting so that people care about saving those forests.

I agree completely. If we can’t get (young) folks outside and into “nature,” they are never going to care about it.

Wife and her dad left early this morning for a week of canoe camping in NE Oregon. The kids miss her already but I think we’ll manage to have a bit of fun ourselves. We will camp out in the backyard tonight, hit the rock climbing gym a couple of times this week, visit the pool at least once and head out for more camping next weekend.

Not the same without mom but a good opportunity for the rest of us to manage on our own.

We are eating (and couch-potatoing) ourselves into crises. The more stats like this that I see, the more Wall-E re-enters my mind. We as adults have to set the appropriate expectations for nutrition and exercise. And then, it’d be really nice if more of us modeled those expectations in healthy and appropriate ways. This isn’t brain surgery folks. Get outside and move! And, as Michael Pollan might say: “If grandma has never heard of the ingredients, don’t eat it.”

The number of hospitalizations of kids and teens, ages 2 to 19, with a primary or secondary diagnosis of obesity nearly doubled between 1999 and 2005, climbing from 21,743 to 42,429, according to a study published Thursday on the Health Affairs website.

These were stays for obesity-related conditions such as asthma, diabetes, gallbladder disease, pneumonia, skin infections, pregnancy complications, depression and other mental disorders.

via Study: Hospitalizations related to childhood obesity nearly double – USATODAY.com.

Teen sailor nears end of trip around the world.

Wow. Now this is a kids-in-nature story!

In parts of the country, we’re approaching 1/2 of children being clinically obese. Wow (and not in a good way).

Mississippi also had the highest rate of overweight and obese children, at 44.4 percent. It’s followed by Arkansas, 37.5 percent; and Georgia, 37.3 percent.

via As 23 states get even fatter, heavy costs loom – Fitness- msnbc.com.