Have you guys noticed the increase in infographics on the web as of late?
According to my good friend Wiki, infographics are short for information graphics. In other words, they are visual representations of data and/or knowledge.
In my opinion, they are a great way to represent a large (and possibly boring) set of data.
However, this set of data is anything but boring. In fact, it is quite eye-opening.
Take a look.
A few things to note:
“School and worksite interventions have been shown to be successful in increasing physical activity levels.”
That’s promising.
“One quarter of U.S. children spend 4 hours or more watching television daily.”
Ah, that’s downright scary. Children should be engaging in active play. I am all for modern technology, but it may be having more of a negative impact on todays youth.
“Children with obesity, ages 10-13, are reported to have a 70% likelihood of obesity persisting into adult years.”
Unfortunately, many of these U.S. statistics are not surprising. We have fast food restaurants on every corner. Children have televisions, game systems, iPods, and everything in between. Many adults sit at desks/computers for the majority of the workday.
This is exactly why I want to help create and implement health and wellness programs for adults in sedentary jobs.
I believe that we need to start with the parents. The goal is to help parents create healthy habits. Then they will bring those newly acquired healthy habits home to their children. The children will notice the positive effects of a healthy lifestyle and thus they will begin to adopt healthy habits themselves.
I have seen this in action in my own life. When I overhauled my lifestyle and slowly began to incorporate healthier foods and more activity, my son noticed. He began to show an interest in his own health. I became a vegetarian. Shortly thereafter, he did as well. I started walking/running. He started to join me. He even reads food labels to make certain he’s not eating chemicals and he rarely forgets to take his morning vitamin.
I’m not saying that vegetarianism and vitamins are the key to being healthy. But the fact that he started making changes after I did is a testament to the fact that children are aware. If you make healthy changes, they will not go unnoticed.
In my opinion, setting a good example of a healthy lifestyle is the best way for children to adopt and appreciate health themselves.
It’s the practice what you preach philosophy.
Thoughts?
Thanks to Craig for supplying this infographic.
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