Kids and Sitting
Only 42% of kids are categorized as being as fit as they should be, meaning 68% of our kids are overweight, obese and not in good physical health due to large amounts of inactivity.
According to the CDC, the USA spends 75 cents on the dollar on chronic conditions related to sedentary lifestyle including obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
The average U.S. students sits an average of 4.5 hours per day at school and for kids between 8-18, an additional 7 hours per day in front of a screen.
Combined with sitting at school, in front of a screen, driving to school, homework and eating meals, kids sit 85% of their waking hours. This increases their risk of developing diabetes, cardiovascular disease or becoming obese later in life.
Sitting is the new smoking:
Sitting as little as 2 consecutive hours increases your child’s risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cancer, back and neck pain, orthopedic conditions, just like smoking. (Dr. James Levine’s book: Get up! Why your chair is killing you and what you can do about it)
Kids and standing desks:
- normal weight kids burn 15-25% more calories
- overweight kids burn 25-35% more calories
- Kids are more engaged in standing classrooms.
- Standing can help in the prevention of back and neck pain, repetitive stress injuries and knee/hip problems.
- Standing desks create movement-rich environments, which help with brain health and development. (Dr. Mark Benden)
Excess sitting causes orthopedic dysfunction which impedes children’s ability to learn
- If kids are given the opportunity to move in the day, they will.
- Students move more, education improves.
- Kids feel happier when they move more
- Active learning results in better behaviors.
- Standing classrooms improves test scores
- Standing prevents postural distortions and helps prevent body degeneration.
- Reducing sentry time, reduces cell aging, creating a generation that is healthier and lives longer.
