Mind and body

Hey, who’s been to America ? What’s the first thing that struck you when you arrived in America. Was it how cheap the food was ? Nah, I bet it wasn’t. When I was in the States, the first thing that struck me was how big everybody was…and I don’t mean tall….I mean they were fat. It was summer time in Texas and as soon as I got of the plane the airport terminal was full of people with big fat arms and multiple chins. When you sit down to have lunch in America you instantly understand why they’re so big. God help us if ever we get to that point…although stats will show we’re certainly heading in that direction. We never want to get there. How do we stop it. Well, it’s pretty simple….we’ve got to eat more of the right stuff and less of the wrong stuff and we’ve got to move more. A Canberra professor has laid some pretty interesting research on the table today. He’s found evidence that physical education not only reduces the risk of childhood obesity but can improve academic performance. Dick Telford from the Australian National University medical school was himself a little surprised with this result. This was a four year study that compared children who participated in traditional daily sport activities with those who received specialist education in general fitness skills such as coordination, balance and strength. The study found that those who did the PE classes were not only fitter, they were smarter or at least that they’re Naplan results were improved, by an average of 10 points. This trial took place in 29 of Canberra’s public schools. Gotta get those kids moving. Gettem moving….gettem riding and swimming and laughing….laughing is important too