Mark Hyman's Blog, page 6

Amused and appalled by sports training for babies

Reaction around the Web to sports training for babies and toddlers ran the gamut from amused to appalled. (A friend sent this email: "Nice article -- although initially I thought I was reading The Onion. "Baby Goes Pro"??").

Here's a sampling:

Mira Jacobs, Shine
"Yes, you read that right, sports training. But Johnny can barely walk, you say? No matter. Between baby gyms and DVDs that introduce your 6-month old to baseball, basketball, golf, soccer and tennis by way of an animated monkey, Johnny will be making the Kindergarten A-string in no time."

Julie Ryan Evans, The Stir
"Sports for the most part are healthy activities that help improve fitness and teach cooperation and dedication, so why not start instilling those qualities young? How is it much different than reading to them from day one? And if they get really good while they're at it, well then that's a bonus. I mean, just look at Tiger Woods ... OK, bad example, but ..."

Thom Forbes, Marketing Daily
In the end, I think that as long as the goals are to get kids moving their bodies in sustained exercise for the simple reason that millions of years of evolution demand it and not to create, as the Times article says, "the next Robinson Cano or Sidney Crosby," the trend is a good one.

Denise Schipani, Confessions of a Mean Mommy
"What's sticking in my craw today is how these videos and programs latch on to what is actually a good idea — getting kids and parents enthused about physical activity — and twist it into yet another way for parents to be anxious and competitive, and pass those feelings on to their children."

This post originally published at http://www.youthsportsparents.blogspo...

My take on sports training for babies and toddlers

Wednesday's New York Times ran my article on DVDs and group classes that introduce babies and toddlers to sports. A lot of reaction - pro and con - on the Times Web site. Last time I looked, 105 comments.

Each company cited in the article - and the entrepreneurs behind them - seems to be coming from a slightly different perspective. Doreen Bolhuis, who created the Gymtrix exercise videos, believes that babies truly can improve coordination by working out. She's quoted in the article on this point and during my interview with her spoke about it at length, telling me "We sell babies short because they can't speak yet. But they're all about learning how their bodies work and about movement patterns. When we guide them they learn so much more quickly than if we leave it to chance and hope they'll figure it out."

Other company executives quoted in the story cited different reasons for getting really, really young ones started in sports - fighting childhood obesity, getting them in the habit of being active and teaching the basics of games they may pick up later.

How many parents are buying videos and signing up for classes hoping to turn their babies and toddlers into superstars later on is impossible to say. Clearly some companies are appealing to that instinct, subtly or otherwise.

I had a small role in putting together this video which ran with the article on the Times site. It's worth a look.

This post originally published at http://www.youthsportsparents.blogspo...

Let's fund a documentary on girls and baseball

Have a look at the video below. This seems like a great project. I'll be making a contribution.

I've written about obstacles facing girls who want to play competitive baseball several times. For years, baseball was a boys-only preserve. Girls were banned from most high school teams. They played softball if they played a ball-and-bat sport at all. Rules (and attitudes) seem to be changing - slowly.

Finally, a hat tip to a tireless advocate for gender equality in baseball. I'm full of admiration for Justine Siegal's commitment to and passion for this cause. Check out Justine's Web site, Baseball for All.

This post originally published at http://www.youthsportsparents.blogspo...

A new documentary on girls and baseball

This seems like a great project. I'll be making a contribution.

I've written about obstacles facing girls who want to play competitive baseball several times. For years, girls were banned from most high school teams. Baseball was a boys-only preserve. Girls played softball, if they played at all. Rules (and attitudes) seem to be changing - slowly.

This post originally published at http://www.youthsportsparents.blogspo...

Toyota's gift to youth sports, Tiny Football League

Corporate America has used youth sports to move merchandise for a long, long time. Somewhere around here I have a photo of the 1948 Little League World Series in which kid players wore corporate names in script across their jerseys.

Toyota hasn't gone that far. But the car maker is sponsoring the new and slightly off-center Tiny Football League. This league isn't exactly a league. It's a Web site, a Facebook group, a Twitter account, a bunch of Youtube videos and a contest in which one kid team wins $10,000.

I had a fleeting idea that this might be all about the betterment of kids' sports until I saw this post about the TFL on a marketing Web site:

"The online creative will be unified through an online content management system via @thisMoment that puts the campaign assets on the variety of Toyota's social media and Web platforms via its "Distributed Engagement Channel" that enables diverse content from different places to be distributed on one platform to multiple social environments."

Good luck to all teams that have marshalled campaign assets. (Entered the contest).

This post originally published at http://www.youthsportsparents.blogspo...

Is tackle football safe for five-year-olds?

I've been critical of Pop Warner Football for its sluggish response to the sports concussion controversy. So only fair to note that last week the kids' league took a positive step, announcing the forming of a "Pop Warner Medical Advisory Board."

The board - composed of four physicians - will advise Pop Warner officials on a range of health matters, not just concussions.

First question for the panel: Is tackle football safe for five-year-olds?

This post originally published at http://www.youthsportsparents.blogspo...

The most watched play ever in youth football

This 27-second video - showing a trick play in a middle-school football game - has been viewed 11.8 million times on Youtube.

Compare that to the audience for the following:

Obama inauguration speech, 4.6 million views.

Ray Lewis Old Spice Body Wash Commercial, 2.2 million.

Tiger Woods confessional press conference, 285,000.

Tina Fey reacts to winning Mark Twain Prize for Comedy, 63,000.

Future House Majority Leader John Boehner Pays Tribute to Marines and Wounded Warriors, 676

This post originally published at http://www.youthsportsparents.blogspo...

Overuse sports injuries in my family - and yours?

The Albuquerque Journal has a good article this week on overuse injuries and how they can derail the sports lives of youth athletes.

Journal reporter Amanda Schoenberg spoke with coaches, ex-athletes and a pediatrician who treats sports injuries. A few months back, Amanda also called here to chat about Until It Hurts and to pick up information about Ben's elbow injury and my regret over having done a lousy job recognizing that my son might be at risk.

At the end of the piece Schoenberg includes six tips for keeping kids healthy in sports.

1. Drink plenty of water before, during and after a game. Dehydration often leads to heatstroke, which can sideline children indefinitely.

2. Listen to your body. Many injuries are due to the stress and overuse of muscles. Rest may be the only solution.

3. Use the proper equipment. From shin guards to swimming goggles, choosing the right safety gear can help prevent injuries.

4. Don't return to the game until fully healed. Missing one game now can save young athletes from missing an entire season later.

5. Keep constant communication. Problems can't be solved unless someone is made aware of them.

6. Seek advice from a health care provider if severe or chronic problems develop.

This post originally published at http://www.youthsportsparents.blogspo...

Kids' concussions and Lou Gehrig's Disease

I meant to comment on this a few months back - but didn't. Lou Gehrig lives on as a sports icon in part because of his legendary tolerance for pain; he refused to leave games despite injuries that would have sidelined others for weeks.

Now researchers are asking whether Gehrig's refusal to acknowledge injury - and not Lou Gehrig's Disease - might have contributed to his death.

Youth football coaches, this is for you.

This post originally published at http://www.youthsportsparents.blogspo...

On kids and curves, big leaguers aren't experts

The debate over when youth pitchers safely can begin experimenting with curve balls is about as old as the most elderly reader of this blog. I've found references going back 60 years.

As a rule, I pay attention to the advice coming from pediatricians, orthopedic surgeons, biomechanics researchers. These are people who understand the human body, how it works and when it's stressed in risky ways. They don't always agree, and this article about youth pitchers and curves shows that. But the debates are over real issues.

On the other hand, I'm wary of the advice of pro baseball players and that includes those who rent themselves out as youth pitching coaches. They've tutored hundreds of kids, but does that qualify them as experts?

What brings this to mind is a comment last week by Dave Johnson, former big-league pitcher with the Orioles and Tigers, now a broadcaster with the Orioles. Johnson gives pitching lessons, his son is a prospect in the Orioles organization. He's a nice guy.

Johnson was quoted by blogger Roch Kubatko:

"For me, it's like, go back to when you teach a kid to throw a curve ball. Is 10 too soon? Is 12 too soon? The fact is, we don't know. We really don't know. Some guys have great curve balls and have arm trouble their whole careers. Others don't ever have arm trouble. Some start at 12 and never have a problem. Some start at 11 or 15 and say, 'I blew my arm out. I threw too many curve balls in Little League.' There's no way to say definitely."

Next time, Johnson should say:

"I've been giving lessons for years. But you know what? I'm really not the best person to ask. I do know this: While there is no conclusive medical evidence that curves are bad, the top surgeons say don't throw them until 15. That's good enough for me. In fact, if I catch any Little Leaguer goofing around with curve balls the sentence will be a season playing lacrosse!"

Thanks Ben

This post originally published at http://www.youthsportsparents.blogspo...