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From: mcal@ihuxb.UUCP (Mike Clifford)
Newsgroups: net.kids
Subject: Re: Large muscle motor skills?
Message-ID: <968@ihuxb.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 4-Apr-85 14:07:03 EST
Article-I.D.: ihuxb.968
Posted: Thu Apr  4 14:07:03 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 5-Apr-85 04:06:15 EST
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> > You mean this mother actually WANTS her children to become NERDS?
> > Doesn't she realize the SOCIAL PROBLEMS she is causing for them?
> > Unless these boys are raised in an community where
> > intellectual skills are valued above athletic skills (uncommon),
> > this mother is risking some severe social adjustment problems
> > in her children.
> > When they get to elementary school, how does she think
> > the other boys will treat her sons, if they cannot
> > play ball well or defend themselves in a streetfight?
> > What will happen to their self-esteem?
> > How will their leadership and social skills and develop,
> > if they are not respected by their peers?
> > 	Frank Silbermann
> 
> AMEN!  And --- social skills may be the least of their
> problems.  Read the Newsweek article of 1 Apr 85, the one
> about the abysmal fitness level of American kids.  Can you
> believe: a generation of kids with arteriosclerotic deposits in
> their arteries by age 10, who are so lethargic that lack of
> physical activity is stunting their intellectual growth??
> I suspect that the problem I have with my son isn't unusual:
> I'm five times his age, and can run rings around him.  I just
> can't get him up off his butt; I'm beginning to think I'm going
> to have to buy him a leash and collar, and drag him behind me.
> I've tried to get him involved in "fun" sports, like soccer,
> but he still moves around like he's got 50 lbs. of lead in his
> pants.
> Do any readers out there have creative suggestions as to how to
> motivate these kids?  They don't seem to understand or care that
> even a little exercise can make them feel better and help them
> avoid a triple bypass in 30 years.
> -- 
> Ed Arnold

Diet can certainly be the main factor in both the "fat" arteries that
Newsweek report spoke about and in the "lethargic" behavior of your son.
Be sure that his diet is VERY low in sugar, salt, caffeine, and chocolate.
Also, and perhaps more importantly, keep his diet low-fat.  Watch out for
dairy foods, as they are loaded with milkfat.  Skim or 1% milk has all the
vitamins and nutrition of whole milk without the milkfat.  Cheese, ice cream,
etc are all high in fat. Meats, nuts, seeds and gravies are all high fat foods.
You can check food items at the store to see if they're low-fat.  A good rule
to follow is that < 20% of the calories in one serving should come from fat.
One gram of fat = 9 calories, therefore if one serving has 300 calories and
contains 5 grams of fat (45 calories), then this item is low-fat, since 15%
of its calories come from fat.

These are similar to guidelines advocated by Nathan Pritikin.  His books are
available in book stores and libraries.

Mike Clifford