Are Sports Not Working Any More?

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

28 May 2008 06:04 PM

Sports were the typical activity to keep kids fit. Nobody really planned them outside of the idea that they were fun. There was Little League, soccer and of course football or basketball. Kids got together and started games themselves or they went with their parents into organized activities. Today, we have a lot more options for extracurricular activities and parents and kids alike are going to them in droves. So why isn't it helping?

Because sports, by their very nature, are biased against overweight kids. Why do I say this? Because I've been spending this whole week getting ready for my daughter's dance recital. She goes to dance twice a week, studying hip hop one day and cheer/tumble the next. She's pretty good, not spectacular and not a phenomenon, but she's pretty coordinated and when she puts her mind to it, she can do it. So what's the problem? She's not little, tiny or petite. She's got long legs, a good set of hips and a butt. She's not overweight. She's not fat. But she's bigger than the other kids who are all willowy and slender and stick figures. They were giving her a hard time because she 'looks' bigger than them and now she thinks she can't do a back roll because of that.

In another class, there is a fairly large girl who is a little overweight, but when the dance year started last August this little girl was extremely overweight. She's slimmed down in the last nine months, built muscle and tapered off. She's wearing outfits designed for that willowy figure and it really emphasizes her weight. As parents, we got to see the classes 'practice' perform and she was a really good dancer and I don't just mean for her size, I mean she actually 'knew' the dance better than her dance mates and she moved really well.

To my eye, she practiced, a lot. When I complimented her after the dance was over, her whole face lit up and her mother approached me when we all headed back out to wait. "Thank you," she said. "She's been talking about giving up because she doesn't look like a dancer. But it's so important to her."

I took the bull by the horns and said "None of them 'looks' like a dancer. What a lot of kids don't realize is that dancers are not built like fragile china dolls. They have muscle. They have thickness in their legs, especially and I think your daughter looks beautiful because dancing makes her happy and it shows. So remind her of that."

She thanked me and I think I surprised her with my vehemence. But I'm tired of the fat bias, it's nothing new, but it can crush a kid's self-esteem whether they are really overweight or not. Sports and physical activity should be designed to help, not continuously highlight the differences and shut out the kids that need it most.

But hey, it's just my opinion.

Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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