It used to be that rural kids were generally healthier than urban children, because they had a more active lifestyle, as well as being exposed to more germs when young, which built their immune system. However, while it doesn't shape up well for many of the kids in Finland, there is now a growing discrepancy in physical health, favouring urban children. They have put this down to "distance" where kids in urban areas have more possibility to be part of sporting teams and activity in general, because they can rely on walking or public transport, that the country kids can't.
In rural areas, for example, about 42 percent of fifth graders and 46 percent of eighth graders have low physical functional capacity. By contrast, those proportions are much lower in urban municipalities, 33 and 38 percent respectively.
None of those numbers are good, are they?
Firstly, while it could be that it comes down to transport possibility, I think what it indicates is how life has changed, where activity in general has become more homogenised, no matter where you live. There is no longer a huge difference in activity type between urban and rural areas for children, since most rural kids no longer do any of the farm work they would have done earlier. Instead, other than the distances, their lives resemble the urban kids, with lots of screens and sedentary living.
Now, physical condition doesn't only come down to weight, but by the time the average Finn reaches "young adult" (under 30) status, over one-third of women and just under one-half of men are considered overweight, and 19% of women and 17% of men are considered obese. For those over 30, 63% of women and 72% of men are at least overweight. 28% of women and 26% of men are obese. Almost one in two men and women have abdominal obesity.
For those over thirty, they weren't raised on screens in quite the same way as the kids of today, but they were there for the explosion of ultra-processed foods that has come into the Finnish food-chain in the last thirty years. Even when I came here over twenty years ago, there wasn't that much convenient food in stores, but now, most of a supermarket is pre-cooked food, with massive confectionary sections. When the confectionary section is twice the size of the fruit and veg section, there is a problem.
For the kids tested recently, there has been some improvement since Covid restrictions made an impact, but the trend goes back far further than Covid, so that is no excuse. Covid was an accelerant for degrading wellbeing further, not the cause.
Kids are just not moving as much as they did and when I watch my daughter's friends play in the yard, I notice that they are far less capable than we were at the same age. Most of the people I knew at that age were not only not overweight, but they were active at school, after school, and weekends. School breaks were filled with various sports, kicking and hitting balls in groups or against walls, which impacts not only on the weight area, but also physical dexterity. And I think this plays an additional role in other activities.
If a child feels that they are okay at something, they are more likely to do more of it. But if they feel they are bad at something, or it is uncomfortable, they are likely to do less of it. Without dexterity, movement whether it be sport or in the playground becomes more uncomfortable. Put additional weight on the table and it becomes even more uncomfortable. At some point, being out of shape becomes a self-feeding spiral downward, where the less we move, the less we will move, because movement feels increasingly bad. To spiral the other way takes a huge amount of effort, and most people just won't do it (Nike slogan for Gen-Z?), because they do not have the willpower or even the want.
Physical ability is something children take for granted, because they don't yet know what it is like to lose those abilities. As young adults, we can feel pretty good despite not living an overly healthy lifestyle, because our body is able to absorb abuse still. But as we get a little older, all those past transgressions catch up fast and the impact on our body and subsequently our mind, can be rapid. And we have tied our identity largely to the things we have been able to do, and they get lost, quickly. For some, like in my case, instantly.
To each their own?
Sure, perhaps adults should be making their own decisions and be responsible for their own outcomes. However, what about when adults are making decisions for children that are going to heavily affect the potential of that child as an adult? Is that okay? If a parent isn't allowed to legally smack a child due to the trauma it can cause, why is the same parent allowed to feed their kid poor quality food and have their child sit inside on screens all evening? While not an acute impact, doesn't that become part of a traumatic adulthood experience also?
Trauma refers to a deeply distressing or disturbing experience that overwhelms a person's ability to cope, leading to lasting negative effects on their mind, emotions, and body.
Overwhelm's a person's ability to cope....
Coping is more than just surviving, especially if we are looking at improving our wellbeing. Coping means being able to navigate our environment successfully, to survive when times are hard, and thrive when they are good. But if our physical condition is increasingly degrading, our ability to deal with what we face decreases also, making everything we do and experience harder to negotiate, reducing our potential, our possibility, and lowering our outcomes.
It creates another self-feeding, downward spiral, that impacts on our entire life.
And we are baking the conditions for it directly into our children, because we are encouraging more sedentary, less nutritious living standards across the board in the name of profits. It is all about business, with advertisers targeting children and parents alike to drive the sales and usage of products and services that make us worse off as individuals, and societies.
We can do all the studies, have all the reports, no all the statistics, but what is actually being done about improving the conditions for our kids and of our kids, so that they can go into adulthood best foot forward? Parents are to blame in many respects, but they have been conditioned too. Governments and corporations are to blame also, because they have incentivised the pathway to ill-health to create wealth for a few, but they have no impetus to change it. Healthy people might generate more wealth as an individual, but masses of unhealthy consumers generate more wealth collectively - across all industries.
All I can do is encourage my daughter to be one of the outliers. A person who is physically, mentally, and emotionally healthy as an adult. But it starts in childhood.
Taraz
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I think you are obsessed my friend! :) I'm just kidding. It's an important topic. They have said that cancers are becoming more common in younger kids and they attribute a lot of it to obesity. It's like they biggest (pun intended) issue we have medically right now. I think parents certainly aren't helping things. I can recall a few times when a friend of mine's son wanted to play catch, but his dad was too busy scrolling on his phone, so I gladly tossed the ball with him. I don't mind stepping up, but man I shouldn't have had to.
I am definitely obsessed. Body-shaming is just so much fun!
Yep, and I think obesity is more an indicator of all the other crap ew are putting in our bodies that might be causing the cancers too. In a hypothetical world, how much vegetables would a person need to eat to get fat? Even adding in natural meat, it is a huge amount. It is all the other stuff, plus the lack of moving.
Definitely not. Wouldn't it be great if we were all more active?
It also doesn't help that fruits and veggies are so expensive. I can buy a box of pizza rolls for $.99, but a fresh bell pepper is $2.39!
Geez! It is different here, which explains some things.
I know I've said it before, but when my wife and I get groceries each week, the bill is usually between $100 and $150. 70% of that bill is fresh fruits and vegetables. It's not hard to understand why folks living on minimum wage are getting bigger and bigger.
Yeah, I get it. I think it isn't only the cost, but also the convenience, considering minimum wage often comes with other issues due to the type of work and the time of travel etc.
For sure!
We are trying to not reward good behaviour with sweets for the reasons above so when they get older they will immediately go for sweets as comfort . It’s tough though .
Yeah it is, because it definitely limits what a reward is. I spank my daughter daily, so that "no spanking" becomes the reward.
Ideally, it would be great to have a board set up like in school, where once they get some number of stars or something, they can get a larger reward. A little delayed gratification lesson in there too.
🤣🤣🤣. Larger reward should be more screen time. What parents we are eh . Look at us . Who would have thought
I'd be happy if like every three months or something We took Smallsteps somewhere fun for a reward. Nothing massive, but a place just for her. A games arcade or something a bit different.
It’s surprising but also sad to see how things have changed for children, both in rural and urban areas. Years ago, kids moved naturally because life demanded it as there wasn't much of a moment transportation system especially here in Africa. I remembered that I had to trek a few kilometres every day to school. But now screens, long distances, and processed food have taken over even here in Africa. Now most of the natural physical ability has been replaced by the gym.
As you said, parents and society play a huge role in this problem, yet many don’t realise how much damage unhealthy habits cause over time. We worry about protecting children from physical harm, but we overlook the silent harm caused by inactivity and poor diet. As you said, it all starts in childhood. Helping kids stay active and healthy is one of the best gifts we can give them for the future. But parents these days often say I can't allow my children to go through the difficulties I went through when I was a child. They have turned the moment they had to trek miles to school into a sufficiency on the part of the child. Also, they have glorified fast food as a natural and freshly prepared meal.
Engineered fitness. It is better than nothing, but most people aren't going to be able to stay consistent at it. It is "extra" to do, and many are looking for less to do.
Exactly. It is also interesting when people who are in poor shape, protect themselves from getting hurt - what have they got to lose? :D
If we eliminate the kids on the sports teams then at this point the only kids getting enough exercise are the ones trying to find an electrical outlet for their dead iPad or cell phone 😜
:D Perhaps what we should get rid of fixed socket points and instead have robots that run around and have to be caught to charge a phone.
This is where they are lacking behind. Giving up is easy for them but not giving effort to improve is harder. I am blessed not to have this mentality. Trying and putting effort is right way to go.
Here in my village, the kids were still pretty active. They are much stronger and few have 6-packs abs, without joining any gym. They have natural body capable of doing anything.
I think it also comes with beneficial rewards outside of the result. I feel better about myself when I go to the gym, even if my body aches.
It used to be the norm. Now it is the exception in western countries at least.
It is true that rural children do not work in agriculture or are not active in various physical activities like before. But even then, compared to the cities, our children in the villages are much more physically fit and in other activities. For example, it is very noticeable that children in the villages are constantly playing sports, fishing or walking on the streets. Many children even run a lot. I even grew up in the village and am currently teaching in a school in the village. Although some boys and girls in the village are away from agriculture, they are participating in other activities, especially running or other sports.
Yep. I suspect there is a difference between your rural and Finland rural. Finnish rural is actually not very rural at all, compared to many countries.
I never thought about it this way, but you’re right, the issue isn’t just weight, it’s the whole package, physical ability, confidence, coping skills, mental wellbeing. When kids don’t build those foundations young, they struggle later in life in ways we don’t always connect back to childhood. It’s painful to think we’re raising a generation with less resilience without even realizing it.
And it happens across many areas and impacts all parts of life. If we look at all of the different mental health issues at the moment, it really isn't because life is harder, it is just that we have created an environment where people are less capable.
I think the decrease in physical skills in children shows how our lifestyles are changing. It is important for parents and communities to create spaces that encourage activity and healthy decisions,
Over twenty years ago, there was a study in Australia looking at the dropping coordination of children, and it was attributed to playgrounds where kids couldn't get hurt very easily. Pain is a great teacher.
The part about parents not being allowed to hit their kids but being allowed to feed them harmful food… that one shook me. It’s uncomfortable, but it’s true. Not all harm is loud or immediate. Sometimes it’s slow, quiet, and packaged as convenience. Your point about conditioning is real too many adults don’t even know how to break out of the habits they grew up with.
And this makes it more dangerous, because it can happen at scale for a long time, before anyone pays attention enough to make a change.
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STOPThanks.