Rollercise?

Ok, so I've been wanting to start this blog for a long time, but nothing really could get me motivated to start. That is until I stepped foot in the Jordan YMCA on Saturday, and saw something that just set me off so much, I finally had something I needed to vent about.

Childhood obesity is a major concern in America, and Indiana is a state that can't exclude itself from the list of fattest states in the nation. I like to push a lot of the blame on video games, and lazy parenting from parents who have the same obesity problems. Cities are too big, and there's too much danger in doing anything "child-like." When was the last time you've seen a kid with a lemonade stand on the side of a road? Now you have to worry about this guy paying you a visit. Point being, things are made easier for kids these days. They have things that most people have later in life, by age 10. And it's all handed to them. And the one thing that you really don't see much of anymore, are kids at a park. We'd BEG to go when I was younger--to get outside on a nice day and be with our friends. Run around. Be silly. Be stupid. It didnt matter, we were outdoors and expending energy, and little did we know at that time, calories. One of my favorite things to do at an early age was ride my Big-Wheel. I'd ride it from one end of the sidewalk to the other as many times as I possibly could. Was I thinking about how many calories I was burning at the time? No, but I bet my parents were. It was their job to make sure I stayed a healthy kid. It was their responsiblity. Much like the way they would take me to get the shots I needed before I started school, or take me to the doctor if I did end up getting sick, they made sure I remained disease free. So when did parents decide that keeping their kids away from disease wasnt important anymore. These days kids play inside, couped up on couch, learning how to kill people by playing Halo. Now, I'm not saying that Halo condones killing, but it does keep kids inside more than not. I guarantee that oooh 75% of kids between the ages of 6 and 12 asked for some type of video game, rather than for a parent to make them a sandbox! I understand that as cities get more crowded, there is less room for personal playgrounds, but that is why neighborhoods are required by law to build them in a complex that intends to house families. When houses and friends get close together, you see kids riding their motorized scooters to their friends' houses, instead of walking the short distance. Which brings me to the YMCA. I saw a kid "riding around on his own two feet" wearing those shoes with the wheels on the bottom. We've all seen them, and I was intrigued at first, but then realized that kids these days are so lazy, they can't even WALK on their own at a gym. At a place where people go to exercise, this kid needed to spare himself the energy and ride to his next destination. To me, it was the ultimate "you've got to be kidding me." And the kid I saw was no string bean. He was a kid that looked like he could have taken a couple laps around the track so to speak. I was imagining something like this. If we plan to help our future offspring be better, healthier human beings, maybe we should start doing one of the first things we learn to do as a toddler--walk. One thing's for damn sure-- I will never be the mom says, "Oh you'd be so proud of your grandson, he took his first roll across the kitchen today!"