Weight of Canada’s kids not all on Harper’s shoulders

As the single full-time parent of three young sports nuts, my mom had to pony up registration money for hockey, ringette, soccer, baseball, football, and whatever school sports my sisters and I could fit in there. Usually, the registration costs were a couple hundred dollars here and there; nothing forbidding, but it was enough to put a strain on some household finances.

About this time last year, Prime Minister Stephen Harper added a provision to his election platform; parents would get a $500 tax write-off on kids’ sports registrations for the calendar year.

It was lauded as a way to help motivate parents to get their kids off the couch and into the gym, the track or the weight room.

The reality is, though, that parents whose kids play sports will pay the piper either way; be it through registration fees, buying new, or in our case, used, equipment at the store and the inevitable purchase of hot dogs, coffee and soda pop at the arena, pitch or diamond.

The tax break was designed to encourage parents to sign their kids up for more sports — a small way to cut back on the rising rates of child obesity, they surmised. The problem with that is, all the tax breaks in the world aren’t going to get junior off his or her butt and putting down the video-game controller. It was an election promise designed to get overburdened sports parents a reason to vote Conservative.

No, the real problem lies with society, modern parents and yes, the media — of which The Chronicle is a member.

Twenty years ago, street-hockey games were a matter of quick organization and long periods of exercise.

“Hey, Rich. We playin’ hockey? OK. Ten minutes, my house. Call Doug and Jack. I’ll dig out the goalie pads.” That’s how my buddies and I spent literally every day after school growing up, from Grade 6 to Grade 11. We’d walk home from school — about two kilometres, drop our schoolbags, garb a snack and get to the game, which almost always started at 3:30 p.m. We’d play for an hour and 45 minutes until one of the players had to get home for a 5:30 p.m. dinner. Then we’d pack it all up and do it again. More often than not, later that night, we’d see our buddies again as we laced up the skates for a hockey game at the arena. Rarely an adult to be found.

That level of non-supervision is one reason today’s kids are fatter than yesterday’s. No parent in his right mind would let their kids out of their sight for almost two hours to go play in the street on a daily basis. No, these days, exercise is scheduled, just like everything else in kids’ lives. Saturdays can mean an hour of karate class or ballet class, followed up by music lessons or an art workshop for 8-year-olds. They get a ride to all of them. No walking, no running, and by god, no fun allowed. That kid is going to appreciate music, whether she wants to or not.

Parents today are also better-informed than our parents were. The Internet, 24-hour news channels and a burgeoning blogosphere recount every death, crime or tragedy involving a child, and we get more and more and more protective with every report. Frankly, I’m surprised we haven’t already equipped our kids with full-time respirators to purify the air they breathe. Kids aren’t going to reverse the trend on their own, either. As parents, we have to make a conscious effort to give our kids the same carefree childhood we had, complete with cuts, scrapes, bruises and fights. Lord knows I got into my share of all four. Harper’s move is a good one for parents trying to make ends meet and keep two or three kids in multiple sports, but it’s not an answer to the fat problem.

I often wonder if the growing trend of adult children living at home is a result of coddling by their parents who haven’t toughened the kid up to getting their own place because being tough is, well, tough. On both parents and children. Sometimes it’s easier just to be easy — and that’s a hard thing to say.