What’s Really Causing the Childhood Obesity Epidemic?

bully prevention starts with knowledge of bullying behavior
Physical Health

A study by Yale University has just come out and it claims that people and especially children can become addicted to fast food and “comfort foods”. Of course this would lead possibly to a reason for the obesity epidemic that is sweeping the nation. If this is in fact the case, that would call for us to re-think how we are approaching the obesity issue. Should we be looking at it as an addiction issue or continue with the techniques we are using presently.

If though it is an addiction issue is it strictly a physical issue or do we need to be looking at the emotional issues that many times contributes to taking part in addictive activities. Could it be that the stress that so many of our children feel is a contributing factor, or is it due to low grade depression? I of course do not know the answer to those questions. I do know however that stress is a bigger part of the lives of our children than most of us parents are able to comprehend. Much of the reason for that is that we have a tendency to compare the child’s causes of stress to our own and – well there seems to be no comparison. But in fact our children do have high levels of stress in their lives, socially, academically and many worry over pleasing their parents.

What can children do about this? As parents we have a responsibility to help them have tools to combat stress, which means we must have tools to do the same. Where do we start? I would suggest starting with some quiet time to take some deep breaths and calm ourselves. Follow that with some physical movement to relax all of our body parts, and then ask ourselves “What is the most important thing I can do right now that will have the biggest impact on my life, job, family? Then take care of that one thing.

For more information on childhood obesity look at this presentation on What’s really causing the childhood obesity epidemic? – What Kids Say by Dr. Pretlow.

To learn how martial arts and Balanced Life Skills can help you relieve stress come in to our studio and try out some classes.

BGE fixed their underground problem at BLS

We have electric - though the parking lot is a mess
Yesterday we had to close due to being out of electric. Once again one of the phases coming into our studio was broken and causing some problems. BGE did take care of it yesterday evening and we are open again under normal operating hours. For our students who missed a class – you are welcomed to come today if you would like to get some practice in for your stripe test this week. Thank you to everyone for your understanding.

6 Dangerous Trends: Bullying: What is Bullying?

Bullying Prevention Begins with Knowledge About Bullying

bully prevention starts with knowledge of bullying behaviorBullying is a relationship issue where power and aggression are used to affect another person.  The bullying behavior is done intentionally and is repeated over time.  This behavior is not a one time event that can be seen as a usual type of conflict between individuals.  The person who is the aggressor develops power over the person who is the target, and as time goes on if left unchecked, the target loses power while the aggressor gains power.  The target of this behavior can become increasingly powerless to stand up for themselves.

Bullying others may give some a sense of power over their target and a feeling of importance that they may be having a difficult or perceived difficult time obtaining with more positive social behaviors.

Bullying is not a problem that only children have to deal with.  Nor is it one that is limited to boys being the perpetrator.  While bullying behavior seems to peak in middle school, it begins as early as second grade.  Teachers and parents may even be able to see signs of bullying tendency in children as young as preschool aged children.  Do not mistake though that the behavior that affords dominance and social status stops when children leave school.  This behavior may continue well into adulthood and statistics show that 60 % of children who practice bullying behavior will have criminal convictions by the age of 24.

What is your knowledge of bullying?  Take a quiz and see how many myths about bullying you hold?     What Is Your Knowledge About Bullying Quiz

Andrew R. leads classmates in support of troups

For my community service project my Kindergarten class and I each wrote a letter to a soldier thanking them for their service to our country. On the opposite side of the page we used small pieces of white and red construction paper and some stars to create an American flag.

My mom is going to send all of our letters to an organization called  www.amillionthanks.org and from there they will be distributed to an American soldier.

I had the idea to do this after learning in school about Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day all the things that the military does for us to keep our country safe.

Stewart M. & Friends Clean Up a Stream

Stewart & friend at Terrapin Park with their haul
Some trash is heavy to carry!

We got together some friends and picked up trash. We were with Project Clean Streams.  My friend Luke joined us.  My mom drove us to Terrapin Park on the Eastern Shore.  We worked 2 hours and picked up 8 bags of trash and a man told us the beach never looked cleaner!!

Bully Project: A Film Worth Supporting

Following five kids and families over the course of a school year, the film confronts bullying’s most tragic outcomes, including the stories of two families who’ve lost children to suicide and a mother who waits to learn the fate of her 14 –year-old daughter, incarcerated after bringing a gun on her school bus. With rare access to the Sioux City Community School District, the film also gives an intimate glimpse into school busses, classrooms, cafeterias and even principles offices, offering insight into the often-cruel world of children, as teachers, administrators and parents struggle to find answers.

Balanced Life Skills is committed to helping our community face the issues of bullying by teaching and promoting peace and non-violence. Our Verbal Self Defense being taught in our classes helps bring confidence to our students.