Is modern technology not just making us physically weak and obese; but also isolated and lonely?

I went down the road the other day without my smartphone.  While I felt rather uncomfortable, I also felt kind of free at the same time.

Technology has taken control and even redefined the word "friend".  I wonder: How many of our online friends will physically leap to our aid in times of real need?

It was school holidays last week: I was wondering where are all the children?  I don't see any in the streets and the playgrounds and playing fields are empty.  My 14 year old loves to do sport and outdoorsy things but he has nobody to play with outside of organised sports under adult supervision.  They are all indoors, safely tucked up in front of the tv or gaming console.  Definitely not outside

Things were back to normal today with the usual rush of mothers ferrying their children to school this morning and then the rush again of SUV's around 3-4pm.  Its 5.30pm now and the streets are deserted.  Mind you, the weather is horrible; but then again, the weather has little or no influence on the presence of children outside.

My sentiments about the intrusion of technology into our every moment of life is nicely summed up by the poem in the video that follows.  The irony is that he relies on the very technology that is doing the harm to deliver the message!

About this website 

The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation. Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.

Candida and Fungal Infections? Gary Moller recommends you explore this programme: Click Here!

The number of Sub-2:10 Men Marathon Performers in 2013 by country (updated 9/12/13)

Whether we are riding our bikes, hiking a hill, walking around our suburb, or competing in some kind of race, what  really hits me is the lack of young people.

Within half an hour of school finishing, the frantic rush of SUV's is over and the streets are as good as deserted of youth, other than a handful hanging around the local superette.  Where have all the children gone?  Where are all the teenagers?  Its as if they have quickly scurried away to the safety of their burrows.

My impression is that the ACTIVE participants in outdoors activities - be they recreational or competitive - are mostly greying adults.  When we compete in a running or mountain bike race nowadays, the junior grades are definitely in the minority.  When hiking, it is mostly retirees who we meet along the way - rarely do we see youngsters.

I don't know about you but this trend is disturbing: It is disturbing because it signals we are witnessing the death of the traditional Kiwi outdoors lifestyle: It is disturbing because it signals deteriorating health as soft children get old: It is disturbing because it signals the end of New Zealand's proud tradition of excellence in outdoors sport.  We are following in the footsteps of Australia.

Case in point: New Zealand once all but dominated middle and long distance running.  No longer is this the case. 

# of Sub-2:10 Men Marathon Performers in 2013
Kenya	79
Ethiopia	47
Japan	7
Eritrea	4
Uganda	3
Morocco	2
South Africa	2
Qatar	1
USA	1
France	1
Brazil	1
Spain	1

Thanks for the list, Gavin Stevens.

Where is New Zealand and Australia?  The UK?  The US looks pathetic, despite its wealth and numbers.  Is their sole sub 2:10 runner an African import?  Its great to see Japan, with its proud love affair with the marathon, still managing to hang in there.

While there may be a strong genetic factor running through these ranks, I think the over-riding factor is the way children are being raised in developed countries.  After all; if you argue it is the African gene, well there are millions of people of African descent in countries like the US, UK, France and Germany, to name some.

The real differences are less than genetic: A soft Developed World upbringing versus a hard and often desperate one in a 3rd World country.  Plus a calorie rich - nutrient poor Western diet that produces fragile blobs, rather than lean, muscled athletes.  Plus the ubiquitous computer and gaming console that results in loss of limb function, other than the thumb.  Plus the motor car. Plus "Stranger Danger".  Plus the quad bike on the farm. Plus the incredibly versatile hydraulic digger.  Plus fear-mongering of the dangerous outdoors, including fear of the sun.   Then there is "Helicopter" parenting, driven by an irrational fear of everything!

There are similar patterns, to do with poverty, within New Zealand with regards to the production of first class rugby players: In the Wellington Region I can't see many (if any) emerging players coming out of the affluent Central City suburbs: The wealth of new talent that keeps the All Blacks on top and which enriches the Australian NRL is from less affluent places like Wainuiomata and Porirua - and the Pacific Islands - not Kelburn or Brooklyn.

So, what's the solution?

• Reject fast foods and get back to preparing foods daily from their basic ingredients.
• Reduce reliance on the motor car.  Walk, walk, walk - and ride a bike most other times.
• Walk children to and from child care or school and regardless of the weather.
• When you go hiking - take the kids!
• Restrict computer and gaming console use: Just an hour after school, then outside to play.
• Insist on shared physical family chores such as weeding the garden.
• Encourage neighborhood play.
• Reject the "Stranger Danger" myth.  The more people on the streets the safer it is for all.
• Accept that a child getting dirty and suffering the occasional lumps, bumps and bruises are part and parcel of a healthy upbringing.

Easier said than done.

• Streets need to be designed to be pedestrian and cycle friendly.
• Where and how we live needs to be physically designed so that people are brought together - not isolated in their private boxes.
• Work needs to be more family friendly so that parents have more time with children, in less of a rush and less exhausted.
• Fear sells (Better than sex).  We need to reject the beating up of FEAR to manipulate behaviour, to sell products and to raise money (Think: The war on cancer).

About this website 

The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation. Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.

Candida and Fungal Infections? Gary Moller recommends you explore this programme: Click Here!

Obesity is not the problem - it is Soft Body Syndrome

We hear so much nowadays about the evil that is obesity. While I do not disagree that obesity is a major health problem that is associated with many, many ailments, I feel that there is a misguided and even unfair focus on obesity per se. Obesity is the outward manifestation - the symptoms - of the real problem.

Are we picking on the obese because they are an obvious and easy target? Obvious? - Yes! Easy target? - Yes! Right target? - Wrong!

I was repeatedly reminded of this during our recent holiday in the far North of sunny Queensland, Australia during their school holidays. Australia has some serious problems looming with its young people - America, move over - here come the Aussies! I have never seen so many soft young bodies in my life, as I did on the Queensland beaches. Sure, there were many obese kids and young adults; but these were the minority. The majority were bodies that, while they would have fallen mostly within healthy BMI ranges, exhibited total lack of body tone - soft bodies - bodies that have little musclulature, weak cardiovascular systems, high levels of body fat and weak skeletons.

I have said many times over the years that thin people also get cancer, have heart attacks and get sore backs.

There are plenty of people who are quite "fat" yet are very strong and have a high cardiovascular capacity. These people are those born with a genetic body type that has high endomorphic and mesomorphic characteristics - many of our Polynesian people, for example. They stay healthy if they eat well and exercise hard. These endo-mesos will only ever achieve pencil thinness at the risk of anorexic death. Regardless of body type which can never be altered, the real health risk is if one is raised soft, thus producing what I call Soft Body Syndrome (SBS).

SBS is the leading health issue facing most, if not all developed countries. Targetting food manufacturers - MacDonalds, Coca Cola, no matter how commendable that might be, or trying to get kids to eat less - is not the real solution to SBS. All this will produce is thnner SBS's which one could argue is actually a less healthy condition than an "over weight" case.

The answer to the problem is daily physical activity and the best thing we could do to get the ball rolling in the right direction is introduce daily physical activity for children in schools, beginning with pre-school centres. Compulsory because the majority of young adults nowadays, including teachers, know little else other than positionally static behavours.

We cure SBS by endowing our children - boys and girls - with Hard Bodies.