Originally published February 2 2006
Health Minister assesses the importance of the UK smoking ban
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
UK Public Health Minister Caroline Flint responded to the report made by the Health Select Committee on the smoking ban, and Medical News Today relays excerpts from her speech.
The noon sky is gray and the sledding hill is all ice.
Dave Hilderbrandt stands at the crest, watching his 8-year-old daughter and her friend gleefully zoom down on their plastic sled.
Neither cold nor snow can keep the Hilderbrandts from getting regular exercise.
Keeping kids active when the weather is warm is child's play.
But parents can have a hard time keeping them moving when ice crystals are forming on the windows.
Even though winter weather can be a powerful inducement for kids to play Nintendo, watch TV and just generally hibernate, pediatricians say it is important to make the effort.
Fitness expert Peter Rehor of Camosun College in British Columbia, Canada, said that while children tend to eat more in the winter, the larger problem is a decrease in activity.
Doctors say keeping kids active -- the sort of movement that gets a heart rate up -- is crucial year-round.
brochure home with its elementary students in the winter, listing local places to ski, skate, snowshoe and sled, like the hill frequented by the Hilderbrandt family.
"There are some tricky months," admitted Colleen Mickle, a physical education teacher at Guilderland Elementary School.
The trick is to make it fun for kids, said Dr. Susan Adams, a St. Louis Children's Hospital pediatrician.
Adams said time limits on TV, video and computer make it easier to keep kids active.
If you think it's too cold outside, Adams and other pediatricians suggest taking kids to swim in an indoor pool, play indoor team sports such as volleyball or take up individual pursuits like karate.
Adams said that many cities have free recreation centers and that even a trip to the mall can be an opportunity to squeeze in some exercise.
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