Smart kids are good for the economy.
Any disagreement there?
Didn’t think so. So what makes kids smarter?
Aerobic exercise, apparently.
A memorable years-long Swedish study published last year found that, among more than a million 18-year-old boys who joined the army, better fitness was correlated with higher I.Q.’s, even among identical twins. The fitter the twin, the higher his I.Q.
The fittest of them were also more likely to go on to lucrative careers than the least fit….
Even a small amout of aerobic activity, like cycling and waking, before a test raised children’s scores – even if the children were otherwise unfit or overweight. More here.
I suppose that seems somewhat self-evident. Yet all this evidence doesn’t seem to be taken seriously when other values are in conflict. Odd, isn’t it, that so many parents drive their kids to school, for instance, fearful for their safety, when the odds are so low? (A kid would have to be standing alone outside for 750,000 hours before being absconded.) But we don’t consider lack of exercise a risk factor – even when only 13% of children meet minimum physical activity guidelines.
Which gets me, inevitably, to opposition to more and better bikelanes, especially when the argument is that they’re bad for business.
It’s not true, of course, as the linked studies in this series indicate. Yet it’s assumed by some, whenever anecdotal evidence is presented, that a small negative effect on a handful of businesses is sufficient justification to stop a separated bike lane like Hornby Street from proceeding.
So instead, let’s reverse the argument: Bike lanes can help make our kids smarter. And our economy healthier. Why are you opposed?
Great way to flip the argument. Totally agree.
Except that children are not being driven to school because of fear of being absconded. But I guess thats how it could appear to one who doesn’t have children. Children are being driven to school because its easier than getting them organized for a walk or cycle. Parents are lazy. Also, fear of children wandering off because they are children is a far bigger fear than the “nightmare”. After all, the “nightmare” doesn’t happen often.
It’s a bad example to illustrate a good point I suppose.
I am certain there are some parents here or those whom some of us know, that very active children (some who might end up misdiagnosed as having attention deficit disorder/hyperactive, etc.) do need some daily exercise to redirect their energy for just a short time before that energy becomes negative, angry or destructive. Cycling for a short while, after school with a child would help in some situations.
However it requires an alert parent to understand that regular exercise for a hyperactive child and to take the time to be with the child to even consider exercise/cycling can be part of a solution for better focused children in home/school/study.