Parents urged to keep kids active this summer

By SHARON LEM,Toronto Sun

The majority of kids in the GTA won’t be getting enough exercise once school’s out for summer, a survey indicates.

Only one-quarter of 500 parents contacted in May said they had summer activities arranged for their children, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario said Monday.

About 49% of the parents said they were too cash-strapped to afford programs for kids, while 26% said they didn’t fit into their schedules.

“The situation is quite serious when you think about the acceleration of unhealthy behaviours we’ve seen in children and youth in terms of unhealthy eating and poor physical activity,” Dr. Marco Di Buono, director of research for the foundation, said.

Di Buono said Ontario has seen a 300% increase in high blood pressure rates among teens and people in their 20s over the past decade. He said he is seeing cholesterol levels in 20-year-olds that normally are seen in 60-year-olds.

Unlike past generations, kids nowadays play sedentary computer and video games and live in a calorie-dense society with nutritionally poor foods.

In 2006, the foundation identified childhood obesity as a critical issue with 28% of Ontario’s children being overweight and obese, and at risk of developing heart disease, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes at an early age.

Programs need to become accessible and affordable — whether the children live in Toronto or in rural areas, Di Buono said.

He said parents don’t need to sign their kids up for structured programs, but could instead accompany them to the park to play.

According to the 2010 Active Healthy Kids Canada report, only 14% of Ontario children and youth are meeting Canada’s guidelines of 90 minutes of physical activity per day.

Colleen Hill and her husband Sean Farnel have registered their seven-year-old son Jimmy and six-year-old daughter Tess into a Toronto day camp for $2,000 a month.

“My husband and I both work, so some of the challenges we faced were affordability and fitting the camps into our schedules,” Hill said.

“But it’s a sacrifice we felt was important to make so they can be physically active and be outside.”


Response
This is sadly true. My generation is not getting enough exercise or going outside during the summer. It is even harder because of the recession and other financial issues. It makes me think that the government needs to open more free programs for us children to stay active and not have an excuse.(Put those taxes to good use :P). We need to keep ourselves healthy and active it is an essential in life, but life is not the same as it was 50 years ago. The weather is harsh because of global warming so it does make it harder for us kids to go outside and play and enjoy ourselves in the icky humid heat. The weather is a huge problem and so are our parents being too busy because they have to work their butts off in order to provide for us. We would enjoy going out with our parents and participating in summer based activities, (even though we do not show it) but money is hard to make and frankly it is just not as safe as it use to be outside as well. So opening or providing us with free physical activities would make us more able to enjoy summer and get active. It will help lower our health problems. This topic is a hard one because there is so many things we could do, it's just the money is the big necessity that is hard to get and keep. I am concerned for my own health because I am guilty of staying inside because of the weather and other issues and I do hope they will open some more free places for us to go. So this will remain an issue for many kids and families for awhile.

Police add water cannon to G20 arsenal

Expect more traffic congestion, police warn




Jesse McLean
Staff Reporter Police have added a water cannon to their arsenal as they step up security ahead of this week’s G20 summit in Toronto.

Provincial police Const. Michelle Murphy of the Integrated Security Unit says the water projection system will be used to control large crowds if there are riots.

Workers were busy all weekend building the zigzag of steel fencing that will surround the leaders and delegates during this week’s G20 summit and have put the finishing touches on the three-metre-tall fence that surrounds the security zone.

Security preparations for summit are becoming more and more noticeable. Scores of police — some, brought it from cities coast to coast, still wearing their out-of-town uniforms — were patrolling the downtown core Sunday.

Meanwhile, three bronze elephant statues that decorate Commerce Court near King and Bay Sts. were temporarily removed because of the G20.

“The bike locks. The benches. They’re taking everything,” said a guard at the Court, a popular lunch spot for those working in the nearby bank towers.

The city has removed trash cans, bus shelters and even young saplings from the summit area out of concern the street furniture might be ripped out and used as arsenal by violent protesters.

Const. Wendy Drummond, spokesperson with the summit’s Integrated Security Unit. said the decision to move the matriarch elephant and her two calves was done by the property owner and not recommended by police.

The statues, however, could become targets, she said.

“They could spray paint. They could damage it that way.”

The portion of fence erected on Bay St., between Front and Wellington Sts., is causing “noticeable traffic congestion” that’s spreading to nearby streets around the security zone, Drummond said.

Busloads of out-of-town police were reportedly being shepherded inside the former Toronto Film Studios on Eastern Ave., where police have set up a hush-hush temporary jail for processing detained protesters.

Drummond said the increase in officers, in part, is to make citizens used to seeing so many police, and said the number of officers will grow “progressively” until it’s in the thousands.

Larger demonstrations are expected to begin Monday afternoon at Allan Gardens on Jarvis St., where protesters pledge to take “action against the agenda of the rich to marginalize and criminalize the poor.”

Demonstrations are planned throughout the week, including a block party and a tent city on Friday.
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/torontog20summit/article/826245--police-add-water-cannon-to-g20-arsenal







I chose this article because it just shocked me on the kinda things they are doing just because of this G20 thing. I really thought it was some sort of joke but they really are bringing out the water guns.



Response
Personally I believe it was wrong in the first place to spend so much money on protection, it drawed more attention to the G20 event and made it seem like they have so much to hide. Although the protestors are abusing their "freedom of speech" and are acting in ways they should'nt it is still wrong that the police are taking action in this way as well it is just a waste of water that other people need in the world. The Police should take regular action and procedures. We are already losing money we do not need to waste a precious resource as well. They can conduct this way better than they already are.