Wanted: Interviewees on youth fitness, obesity

[maryj75225 10]

Greetings,

 

I'm a freelance writer for Scouting magazine. I'm starting my research on an article about youth obesity. I'm hoping to connect with Scout leaders who have found ways to promote fitness in their troops - through exercise, activities, education, or simply new "habits" such as healthier food on camping trips. My goal is to write an article that's helpful and practical - not just "advice" from the "experts."

 

If you have something to share, please contact me directly with a few lines about what you've done, and we can correspond about the possibility of an interview, either by email or phone.

 

Thank you.

[TheWholeTruth 10]

MaryJ;

 

I think you've picked a pretty thankless topic to write on -- or maybe it was assigned to you. I'm guessing you are pretty new to free-lancing about scouting, or at least that you haven't been around many Scouters (adult leaders). I gather that BSA national has decided that fitness may matter after all, but it's going to be a tough sell to the rank and file. If you doubt me, just search for the recent thread on the new adult medical form, with weight limits.

 

When my son and I first entered Scouting about two years ago, we were rather surprised by the fat Scoutmaster, fat Assistant Scoutmaster, and the fat Scouts, including one who was (and is, though no longer in Scouting) morbidly obese. But, we naively assumed that it was just a problem with that troop.

 

Wrong!

 

At least in the Southeast, Scouts are fatter than their age-peers out of Scouting. If that were the only issue, you might still be able to get some traction with your article. But, what's worse is that Scouters are much fatter than their age peers. If you doubt me, drop by a camporee in your area -- be sure to pick one that is car-camping, so you get a representative sample -- and take a look a the adult male leaders. At least in my area, out of 2 dozen adult male leaders, you could expect to find at least half a dozen that are over 100# overweight, and another dozen that are obese. Of the six that remain, you could expect to see one fit and trim guy and maybe 5 that fall into the fit-but-fat category I like to imagine myself as fitting. Sometimes, you'll see a few more really fit guys, or maybe some skinny wusses, instead of the fat-but-fits, but the obese Scouters will be there regardless.

 

Obviously, this is not covered in the BSA's marketing literature.

 

Again, I'm assuming that you are new to Scouting, but again, at least in the Southeast, non-Mormon Scouts tend to be non-athletic nerds, not greatly interested in either fitness or good diets. And, again if that were the only issue, there might be more hope. Boys can and will change, if they are led in another direction.

 

But this is not the first generation of Scouting nerds*. Many Scouters are also nerds, not much interested in fitness, good diet, or outdoor adventure not accessible by car. There are a number of online lists of Scouting recipes -- take a look at some. The ones we ran through a nutritional analysis program ranged from 60% up to 95% calories from fat! And, I've camped with various troops enough to know that those sorts of recipes are precisely what's preferred by the Scouters I've met. When my son and I served some more nutritional recipes, it wasn't the Scouts that were griping!

 

There are Scouters who are very concerned about these issues. But, if they interview with you 'on-the-record', they are going to offend their buddies.

 

You have my best wishes if you continue to pursue this topic; it's certainly an important -- if unwelcome -- one.

 

TheWholeTruth

 

 

*Not knocking nerds here -- I'm one. But, you've heard the story about the "city mouse and the country mouse"? Well, I'm a "country nerd". A fellow Scouter (also fat-but-fit) and I were discussing some of these problems, and the related ones of exceedingly poor outdoor skills among the Scouters we knew, and we ended up agreeing that one reason we were somewhat different then the average Scouter nerds was that we weren't "city nerds". Somehow, baling hay, shoveling cow sh$$, busting brush, and splitting firewood creates a different sort of nerd.

[Nike 94]

Mary J,

 

Why don't you go to your local districts and hook up with them? Observe some Scouts in different kinds of troops and talk with them and their adult leadership.

 

My son's non-Mormon troop is fairly fit as a group, many participating in JV, Varsity, and rec league sports.

 

As for healthy food, no group of boys is going to eat salad, poached tilapia, and egg white omelets. And, quite frankly, on an active camping trip, especially in the cold, you need a lot of calories from good proteins and fats. Plus, boys seem allergic to prep and clean up.

 

Lastly, if you want to write a practical article, ask SPLs what they do to get their patrols moving. Scouting is supposed to be boy led, not adult imposed.