Daily exercise crucial for kids
New research on how young athletes should be treated for concussions on and off the field is welcome news for both parents and coaches.
But a Seattle doctor who was on the international research panel that created the 2017 Consensus Statement on Concussion in Sports hopes parents won’t use this information as a reason why their children shouldn’t be playing sports.
Dr. Stanley Herring, director of the University of Washington Sports Health and Safety Institute, says exercise is essential to a child’s long-term health. The concussion protocols published last month in the British Journal of Sports Medicine are designed to keep athletes as safe as possible and all youth sports programs should adopt them. But parents also need to keep their kids active.
Physical illness related to inactivity is more likely to result in premature death than sports-related concussions.
About 10 percent of deaths worldwide are related to physical inactivity, including heart disease, diabetes and some cancers, according to Harvard researchers. Physical activity also combats depression and enhances psychological well-being, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Only about a quarter of high school students get a daily dose of exercise, according to the CDC. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends that youths ages 6 to 17 get an hour of physical activity each day. But as most parents can attest, many young people today are getting a lot more screen time than exercise time. declined.
The federal gasoline tax was last raised in 1993. Over time, inflation and improved fuel efficiency have steadily eroded its value. Raising the tax is not a perfect solution, particularly as highly fuelefficient hybrid cars become more affordable. But the need for additional revenue has been put off to the point of irresponsibility.
Gasoline is the cheapest it’s been in a decade. An increase at the pump would barely be noticed by most car owners, but would pay huge dividends for roads and bridges. The current federal tax is 18.4 cents per gallon for gasoline, 24.4 cents for diesel.
Unlike 2008, when gas prices regularly topped $3.50 a gallon, recently they’ve been relatively stable at $2.32.
Americans really do need to do some things together. Public infrastructure, indisputably, is one. Trump should begin to build the coalition he will need to push this through. The far right will object, but if Trump can carve a bargain by bringing Democrats and Republicans, business people and laborers together on vitally needed infrastructure improvements that would benefit generations, he should seize the opportunity.