Footbag may not be the cure, but it is at least good preventative medicine!

Cases of childhood obesity and adult onset diabetes (Type 2 Diabetes) are symptoms of an epidemic that causes a myriad of health and emotional problems in our youth and young adult populations. People are trending towards poor food choices and sedentary 'activities' in place of balanced home cooked meals and being physically active. The US Surgeon General says on their website: "To ensure a healthy future for America's children, we must—
Help Kids Stay Active, Encourage Healthy Eating Habits, Promote Healthy Choices." REF: http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/obesityprevention/index.html

As there is no magic pill to solving these problems, then certainly footbag would be a great option of the 'Help Kids Stay Active' part of the Surgeon General's initiative. Playing Footbag requires moving your legs, which are the largest muscle mass in the body. Burning calories requires jumpstarting the metabolism, and a simple, low-cost item like a Footbag is all you need to get started.

Learning the basics is the initial challenge, which quickly becomes addictive. Give a kid a set of barbells and they cringe thinking about all the 'work'-outs in their future. Give a kid a Footbag and they will play with their friends, and practice alone to get better! With a Footbag, they are getting their exercise, and they don't even realize it.

As proof of this concept, look at the top Footbag athletes. They are fit and in shape. In my case, I've been playing for over 25 years, and for the past 1070 days in a row (since I turned 40). I am not at risk for being overweight, and no sign of diabetes. Of course, I've been a vegetarian making good food choices for over 15 years which helps too (thanks to Valeria for all the great meals).

www.kickforhealth.org is committed to presenting Footbags to young audiences, to encourage it as a fun activity that provides exercise without realizing it is exercise. It is great to play with everyone in the family, truly quality time.

Meanwhile, tell everyone you know about footbag. But you already know that!

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Shred Notes 11/24/09;
I think that because I rely so heavily on cross body tricks, that I always feel a form of guilt when I spend time on them, which takes away from my time
Skooling new tricks and working on my flipside. Today, I skooled blurry whirls and many other whirls. It was overdue. No guilt, literally And just when I got totally warm, I ran out of time.

- enlightener