As fall-to-winter temperatures dip and the endemic, former COVID-19 pandemic and flu season again make their presence known, I am reminded of two life maxims for this time of pumpkin spice and the holidays: get your shots, and for even better, year-round advice wise an exercise.
The pandemic perhaps had the most lasting impact on our youth, who are now even more tethered to various technology devices in the classroom and most aspects of their daily lives. There has been a significant shift toward greater reliance on and communication via those devices and various social media platforms.
Unfortunately, it is often paired with a more sedentary lifestyle. According to a recent Washington Post article, for the first time in nearly a century, life projections for our children are now shorter than those for their parents.
Not only is life expectancy declining, but the U.S. is falling behind our peer Western nations, with obesity, chronic illness, and early-age heart disease and cancers now claiming young adult lives in this country at alarming rates.
A landmark study in Australia, published by the British Journal of Sports Medicine (unisa.edu.au/media-centre/Releases/2023/exercise-more-effective-than-medicines-to-manage-mental-health), identified the perhaps most apparent, low-cost solution: regular activity and exercise. The data shows that regular activity and exercise are 1.5 times more effective in treating anxiety, depression, and many other related conditions of teen angst than pharmaceuticals or even more traditional talk therapy.
These researchers clearly recommend regular physical activity as the“first choice treatment.”
Enter into this expanding physical and mental health decline and crisis, parent, cool mom, issues activist, and entrepreneur Jennifer Owens, who is also a mother of two daughters and a civic leader of the Brookhaven City Council. Owens believes that all kinds of physical activity are good for you and offer a great way to strengthen relationships and increase happiness and self-esteem while building muscle mass and better cardiovascular health.
Owens leads the nonprofit HealthMPowers (healthmpowers.org), which has a straightforward mission statement: “We champion healthy habits and transform the environments where children live, learn, and play.”
Good nutrition and a healthy diet also play a significant role. Still, as physical education and recess begin to take a back seat in schools, absent extracurricular activities and sports at the high school level, HealthMPowers is intervening and serving as a powerful catalyst at both elementary and middle school levels. It is building life patterns of healthy habits, like muscular muscle tissue, early on.
Founded in 2000 and initially housed in donated space at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, the enterprise was founded by two community leaders and six educators who developed evidence-based, fun, and active programming to improve young women's health.
By 2007, HMP became an official SNAP-Ed implementing organization in partnership with the state of Georgia and the USDA. HMP then shifted its initial approach from training educators and students to building active multi-year partnerships with schools, school systems, and sponsors to transform traditional educational settings into healthier, more active learning and living environments.
Schools and thousands of young female students in DeKalb, Gwinnett, and Henry counties and spots all across Georgia now receive multiple positive benefits and impacts simply by leading more active lives. The HealthMPowers Report Card for 2024 (hemp-impact-report.my.canva.site/healthpowers-2024-impact-report) is inspiring and impressive.
So, I recommend seriously considering being like Jennifer Owens for your New Year's Resolutions list. If building out a fitness and health nonprofit sounds overly ambitious, though, simply start walking daily and invite your children along, particularly those sometimes grouchy and resistant tweens and teens.
Help your children or grandchildren build healthy new life habits before poor choices solidify and lead to long-term damage. Suggest to your local PTA or a group of home-school families the many benefits of a fitness program or even an on-site consultation by HealthMPowers.
As the father of two loving daughters, I can attest to the benefits of long drives, occasional hikes, and walks on the beach or various multi-use trails over the years. Those times gave me some of the best insights I ever had into their daily lives without feeling like I was prying.
Can you think of a better, more straightforward win than becoming a better friend to your children or grandchildren? I can’t. So, be wise, move around, have fun, and get outside. It is all exercise, and I assure you, you will be more than glad you did.