Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Six dozen kids sat crouched on the turf, eyes wide, gazing up in awe at the NFL superstar. Whatever wisdom he was about to impart, the kids were ready.
“How many of you have a PlayStation or Xbox or some video game system at home?” LaDainian Tomlinson asked the group.
Every hand shot up in the air.
“I’ve got a PS3,” one boy called.
“I’ve got a Nintendo DS,” said another, proudly.
Tomlinson, the five-time Pro Bowl running back for the San Diego Chargers, held up a hand, as if to silence the list of inventory. Then he posed another question: “And how many of you play outside every day?”
A majority of the hands rose, though much slower this time. A few honest souls kept theirs at their side.
The facts and figures about childhood obesity are ever-prevalent — a Google search will quickly bring up millions of articles related to the subject. Most studies suggest that childhood obesity has more than doubled — and in some cases tripled — over the past 25 to 30 years.
But I didn’t need to read all those studies to know that. A simple drive around the block tells me all I need to know: kids just don’t play outside as much as they used to.
That’s why LT is busy preaching the gospel of a healthy, active lifestyle. It’s a message I hope spreads across the country in earnest, like an old-fashioned tent revival.
One of Tomlinson’s favorite charitable causes is something called Project21, a joint effort with a San Diego-area hospital that aims to get the word out about the importance of exercise and eating right.
“We’re trying to help raise awareness in families and kids about obesity, diabetes, heart disease,” Tomlinson said. “It’s something that’s really running rampant in our community. So I want to bring that message out here, that you need to become active at a young age, you need to watch what you eat at a young age ... because I think it’s important that they start it now. As they get older, it won’t be a shock to them.”
NFL trying to help
Give credit to the NFL, too. Surely you’ve seen those “Be a Player” commercials by now, which encourage kids to go outside and play at least an hour every day. It’s part of the league’s Play 60 movement, a two-year-old national health and fitness campaign targeting young people.
It’s a noble cause. We need to get our kids off the couch and onto their bicycle seats. In addition to the fact that a sedentary lifestyle leads to large waistlines, that kind of TV-watching, Internet-surfing, video game-playing existence turns kids into slack-jawed, mindless blobs.
Look, I’m not suggesting that kids of my generation or the ones that preceded it never spent a few lazy hours in front of the TV. I had an Atari, and a room full of G.I. Joe and Star Wars action figures. But I also rode my BMX over every square inch of my part of town, and fired up at least a million driveway jump shots.
Nowadays, it seems parents have to push their kids outdoors more often than not. Tomlinson said his mother Loreane never had that problem with him.
“She didn’t have to. She really didn’t have to,” he said. “She used to have to calm me down at times and slow me down. I was always motivated to go outside and play.”
In a chat with his camp’s older students Monday, LT recalled how he used to run wind sprints across the bridge near University High School that crosses Valley Mills Drive.
“People would drive by like, ‘Who is that crazy guy?’ ” Tomlinson said. “But I was always trying to work and get stronger.”
Tomlinson doesn’t just preach a healthy lifestyle. He lives it, even if that means giving up some of his favorite foods, like his beloved Bush’s Chicken.
“I haven’t been to Bush’s yet,” LT said. “I got my wife Bush’s yesterday and I held off, because I’m trying to watch what I eat. But before I leave, I’ll get it at least one time.”
All good in moderation
With that, Tomlinson flashed a beaming smile. He knows that living a healthy lifestyle isn’t about depriving one’s self of the good stuff, but it’s about fostering a health-conscious mindset, so that you can occasionally enjoy the good stuff in moderation.
“That’s the whole purpose of it,” Tomlinson said. “To get them thinking, ‘I can do it.’ That’s what it’s all about. It starts with them, and it starts in your mind. So if we can get them believing that they can do something special, then I think we’ve done our job.”
bcherry@wacotrib.com
757-5714
Commenting is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. M-F, except on Tuesday when it's open until 9 p.m.
Post a comment
*HTML not allowed in comments. Your e-mail address is required.