The Scarring of American Youth! Part 1
May 14, 2009
The Scarring of American Youth! Part 1
Written by Joe Garcia
HBO recently aired an episode of Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel called “Hands Off” featuring the debate about banning Dodge Ball in American schools. Critics are claiming that the game sends a negative message and can result in emotional and physical scarring in it’s young participants.
I’m really interested to hear your take on this issue, so please check these videos out and share your thoughts.
We will continue this discussion in Part 2 of this series.
Joe Garcia is the owner of Arena Fitness in Encino, California.
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Fit AND Fat; The New Reality
May 12, 2009
Fit AND Fat; The New Reality
By Jonathan Aluzas
I am rising up in defense of fat. I know, this is counterintuitive for a gym owner and seems to defy common sense, but the popular movement toward “thin is in” drives me to address this issue. We have a national fascination with skinny (Louisiana, the fattest nation in the Union, notwithstanding). Our actresses get tinier and tinier, our models look like pipe cleaners, the weight loss supplement industry is a multi-billion dollar monster (Attention: Hydroxycut just got recalled, what a surprise!) and celebrities who slap on a few pounds are mocked and derided in the media ( Jessica Simpson; you look just fine, girl). There is a poverty of self-image that is driving us mad.
NOT FIT
But “thin” and “fit” are not words that form an absolute marriage, nor are the words “fat” and “unhealthy” synonymous. Research done over the last several years indicate that one can actually be overweight and healthy at the same time. In fact,
Active obese individuals actually have lower morbidity and mortality than normal weight individuals who are sedentary…the health risks of obesity are largely controlled if a person is physically active and physically fit.
- The President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, 2000 -
Interesting. It seems that, while obesity is generally accepted as a negative health factor, it’s the lack of physical activity that is the critical component in one’s health.
“Consistently, physical inactivity was a better predictor of all-cause mortality than being overweight or obese.”
-Annals of Epidemiology, 2002