H.A.E.S[i] is Health At Every Size. It is something that is rarely spoken about in schools, in a health curriculum, or in a single piece of the anti-obesity rhetoric that is behind the QDPA (Quality Daily Physical Activity), increased physical activity, “more movement”, “less screen time”, movements. Not that there is anything inherently wrong about the ideals behind these things, but that for the students who are coming from a place of low self-esteem, and negative body-image, this kind of program could be a nightmare to be endured, and not the boon it is intended to be. So, do I complain about the fact that this article[ii] is co-sponsored by a company that produces tonnes of sugared cereals and an anti-obesity research organization? Is it more productive to endorse the message, given that I am entirely certain that getting more physical activity helps to stimulate a child’s brain?
I grew up without a television, I did have a “Merlin” electronic game, a computer, and of course, I had books. I was a fairly active child, who did extremely well in school, to the point of spending most of my life in a gifted withdrawal program. I was also fat.
I was a competitive swimmer, winning 50 and 100m butterfly as well as 100m crawl fairly consistently from ages 8-13. I taught swimming at 14, was a lifeguard at 15, biked to and from the pool (a 1-4 km distance depending on where I was working), downhill skied, fenced – epée since girls were not allowed to do saber, and hated myself the whole time for being “fat and lazy”.
I had the same teacher for P.E. from Grade 3 to Grade 8. My memories of public school gym class consist largely of Mr. Peel shouting at myself and Blair, as we walked around the 1km track, the two fat kids, “Run, fattie, run!” I remember deliberately refusing to run, and knowing that he hated me. I remember not being able to climb the rope, not being able to do the right number of chin ups for the Participaction Challenge, refusing to even attempt to crawl under the bench for fear of getting stuck, and generally, just hating the whole experience of Phys. Ed.
I recall the shame of the change room, not wanting anyone to see me naked, knowing that I looked different, because I was fat, and had different sized clothes than everyone else.
I hated Phys. Ed, even though I played actively at recess. Which was odd, since I was an active kid. We had a cottage, where I ran, and swam, climbed up sheer rock faces, and trees, swung from ropes, climbed ladders, helped build a roof, and generally did everything that any other kid would do. I swam huge distances – I was the only kid at the Art Camp I attended, to be allowed to accompany the waterfront director on her swim across the lake.
I knew my body worked, I liked it, and I was usually happy in my own skin, but somehow, translated into that experience of “gym class”, all I felt was shame, discordance, and self-loathing.
It took a long time for me to reclaim that feeling.: the freedom of being me. The need to “be good” at things, to master certain skill sets, to achieve success is often counter productive to the goal of being active. We, as curriculum leaders, need to make a decision as to which one is more important. If we are going to encourage our students to make an effort to be more active, then we have to decide that it is activity for the sake of enjoyment of the activity which matters, and not activity for the purpose of mastery and “success”. I was always quite driven, and wanting to be the best, or to do better was a big issue for me. Learning to enjoy something just for the sake of enjoyment was hard.
A few years ago, my ex-spouse and I hand-dug a 12x21 semi-inground pool in our backyard because we could not fit an excavator in. It was a lot of work, a lot of physical labour, and it really gave me an opportunity to re-evaluate my fear of physical activity, stemming from that dreaded gym class. No one laughed at me. No one hated me. There was no censure, no shame, just a person, with a body, enjoying the interplay of muscle, the kinesthetics, the movement, the growing strength, the joy of motion, the soreness after a good day’s work.
Those are the things that we need to find a way to communicate to our students - most notably, the joy of the body; the pleasure to be found in movement, the excitement to be derived from building strength and perhaps skill, as well.
When I first walked into the gym here at Lakehead, with the smell, and the sound, it was fear that came flooding back, and I wanted to run away. The fact of my perseverance, and subsequent enjoyment of the classes, says a lot for the efforts of my colleagues, and for the desire I have to learn ways in which to create a Phys. Ed. Program which is welcoming to students of all ability and capability levels. When I was on placement, I specifically asked to be allowed to teach P.E., so that I could have the opportunity to face my fears head on. I am not certain that I did an outstanding job, but it did give me the opportunity to be there, in the gym in front of the class, looking at these people, and trying to figure out how to make this not only the least traumatic experience for them, but also a beneficial one.
I think, often, as with the rest of the subjects, we teach to the middle of the class, and this is another area, where we need to look at how we can service those on the margins. Obviously those with special talents are most likely going to be getting some kind of outside assistance or encouragement, teams or other extra-curricular activity, but what about the ones whose skills are not up to the standard? I don’t have an answer to this. When we build co-operative games and assume that all the students are comfortable with their bodies touching, then we invite shame into our gym class. When we mark out squares on the floor of our gym class without a thought for the fact that not all people are that size, then we invite shame into our gym class. When we create an activity where students have to shimmy through a tight space, or squeeze through a hula hoop, or otherwise measure a body they might not feel comfortable with sharing the dimensions of, we invite shame into our gym class.
In this article on fatness in teenagers,[iii] there is an obvious correlation between the differing lifestyles of contemporary teenagers, and those of previous generations. It references these additional stressors, and the lack of free time between jobs and school, and the need to “grab food quickly “ between the two, but makes no allowances for the accompanying stresses of the hurried modern life. The 2010 Active Healthy Kids Report Card[iv] recommends 90 minutes of Physical activity per day, and no more than 60 consecutive minutes of sedentary activity, that children walk to school, or play outside. These are excellent suggestions, but without a change in the economy, the need of parents to work two jobs, predations concerns, and other societal deterrents, much of this is not going to happen.
Given the emphasis on literacy and mathematics, the concern for teachers, is how do we integrate these things. With a single 20 minute QDPA, and twice a week Phys. Ed. Classes, there isn’t enough opportunity to get the students up and moving.
I did a lot of physical activity as a child, and it very probably contributed to my good marks, and my academic success, but it wasn’t helped by the negative attitudes of my gym teacher, or society’s fatphobic zeitgeist. I agree that there needs to be more physical activity, less computer time, less television time, especially given the desire to prevent Type 2 Diabetes,[v] heart disease, and other illnesses not related specifically to fatness, but to inactivity. We, as a species, are designed to be in motion, and do not do well, confined all day.
Health At Every Size is about the idea of being active starting where you are NOW. The idea is to take yourself, in the given moment, and to work to be as active as possible, now. It is about working to eat food that is good for your body, and nourishes you. It is about loving yourself as you are. Not loving an idealized version of yourself, or a future version. Being able to incorporate this element of self awareness and knowing into a Phys. Ed. Curriculum that is based on enjoying activity, enjoying movement, and enjoying the feeling of being active is really the point of the whole endeavour as far as I am concerned. Children need to learn skills to bring them into healthy, positive adulthood, and to be able to translate those feelings of self-worth, and self-efficacy into other areas of their lives. It doesn’t really matter whether they can throw or catch a ball, but feeling like they can do something if they learn the necessary safety steps, follow reasonable instructions, and then set their mind to doing it – that’s a life skill worth nurturing.
[i] Bacon, Linda. (2010). Health at Every Size. Retrieved from http://haescommunity.org/
[ii] Active Healthy Kids Canada. (2009) Active Kids Score Higher: More Activity Time Adds Up to Better Learning. Retrieved from http://www.ophea.net/article/featured/active-kids-score-higher-more-activity-time-adds-better-learning
[iii] McPheeh, Jennifer. (2002) Weighty problem Retrieved from http://www.nnsl.com/frames/newspapers/2002-11/nov13_02fat1.html
[iv] Active Healthy Kids Canada. (2010) Healthy Habits Start Earlier Than You Think: 2010 Active Health Kids Canada Report Card. Retrieved from http://www.activehealthykids.ca/ecms.ashx/2010ActiveHealthyKidsCanadaReportCard-longform.pdf
[v] Seibert, J. (2010). Phys-ed class sweat pays off in the long run. Retrieved from http://my.hsj.org/Schools/Newspaper/tabid/100/view/frontpage/schoolid/3291/articleid/392461/newspaperid/3404/Physed_class_sweat_pays_off_in_the_long_run.aspx
