Almost every day we awake to some new headline warning us how our kids are getting fatter. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years.”
Now some health experts are telling us about a new killer: the family sofa. Experts are urging people to get up from their chairs and walk, because they say sitting around can be almost as bad as smoking. Studies suggest couch potatoes have an increased risk of ailments ranging from diabetes and cancer to heart disease.
That’s one big reason behind Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign. The first lady says that by encouraging a more active life for our kids, we can help solve the challenge of childhood obesity within a generation. Meanwhile, a year ago her husband told The New Republic that if he had a son, he’d “have to think long and hard” before he let him play football.
Here in New York, Bronx Assemblyman Michael Benedetto has a bill that would eliminate the need for any thinking by banning tackle football for kids under 14. Benedetto says the ban would protect kids from concussions and permanent brain injury.
Certainly, football carries risks. But so do many activities — such as riding bikes or horses. In the battle between doing nothing and playing football, we’re with the first lady over both the president and Assemblyman Benedetto: Most kids are probably better off playing on the football field than they are sitting on the couch.