Kids these days…
Just this past week down in Ann Arundel County, 17 HS football players were taken to the hospital due to heat related illness; all 17 at the same time, not a cumulative count. Now that I’m old enough to say: “kids these days,” I have to say, kids these days are a little weak. I did 2 a days under the blistering South Texas sun under stifling coastal humidity, and we never passed out. Now the truth is the blame falls with the coach. He should have noticed something was wrong when that many boys are getting sick; but that is actually beside the point itself. Like I’ve mentioned many times before, being proactive is not prevention. Being preventative with hydration entails 24 hour a day vigilance, and more than drinking Gatorade and eating bananas. Just recently I wrote about hydration and it’s importance, when you dealing with extreme conditions, that importance quadruples. They need to be drinking no less than 8 glasses of water a day along with 1 more for every 15 minutes of activity, eating mostly fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats and whole grains; a low-calorie carb/electrolyte replacement beverage (Gatorade) is fine for about every hour to two of activity.
I also want to talk a bit about childhood obesity. This generation of kids is the first in recorded history not expected to outlive their parents. Even though 2/3’s of children under 12 are clinically overweight, only 40% of parents believe that their children are (mostly because they are too and don’t realize it). Back when I was a kid (and yes I actually did walk uphill both ways in the snow. In college, in the Utah mountains where it snows feet upon feet, I lived on top of one hill and campus was on top of another.); I can count on one hand how many times we went out to eat in a year on one hand, we went outside at 9, and came back at 9, and soda was only for special occasions. Today, it’s McD’s 3 times a day, gallons of Mt Dew and the only exercise is thumbs on the video controller.
So what to do? Eat well, think well and move well…