"Trudging up those San Francisco hills" courtesy of Benson Kua via flickr
Have you ever had someone start a sentence with, “when I was your age…?” A common comic refrain that follows is “I walked 5 miles to school, uphill, both ways.” The general tone of the comment is typically one of how easy the youth of today have it (no matter which today one is speaking of). However, from a standpoint of food and movement, youth do not have it easy these days. Our modern lifestyle is characterized by fast “foods” and pre- processed, packaged, and prepared food products that are terrible for our health. In addition, many peoples’ schools or employers expect them to sit at a desk or counter all day. Then there are a multitude of technologies and sedentary activities that we engage in at night (television, internet, video games). Taken together, our current environment helps to promote obesity and other risk factors for disease.
So, there might be some truth to the benefits of the trials and tribulations of our parents and grandparents and the effects that those experiences had on their health. That is why we were interested when we recently learned of a school that starts each day with a 5 mile walk. However, this is no ordinary school Wellspring Academies, with locations near Asheville, NC and Fresno, CA is a boarding school for youth who are overweight or obese and was started by a Professor who was the Director of the Eating Disorders Center at Northwestern University.
Although we do not agree with all of the guidance offered by Wellspring (there are a lot of sugars, grains, and a lack of healthy fats offered in their “typical day“), we do appreciate their approach to movement and behavioral modification.
First, movement at Wellspring appears to encompass everything from walking to playing competitive sports and movement is integrated throughout the day - from walking in the morning to recreation in the evening.
Second, one of the Clinical Directors at Wellspring described the philosophy of their programs as such: “Students are not just spending a few weeks of their summer working at trying to get healthy quickly. They’re investing a big chunk of their life in change and habits that will allow them to have permanent and long-lasting effects in their weight control.”
So, cheers to Wellspring and the students there who take active steps to learn, change habits, and improve their lifestyles to live longer, healthier lives.