As I write this post, the first post to the Trailmix.Net Site Announcement blog, a number of exciting things are happening with Trailmix.Net. Our logo artwork is complete. Yesterday I had a conference call with our development team to talk about the new site layout. Today I initiated some conversations with Subject Matter Experts who may be involved in creating our first online seminars. The seeds of Trailmix.Net are planted and as I anxiously wait for them to grow I am overwhelmed with a sense of excitement about what this site will be.
It seems appropriate that the first Site blog post addresses why a family would join Trailmix.Net. Even in its current “under construction” state Trailmix.Net can support member blogging, photo albums, and discussion topics in our forum.
On their own, these are just tools. The magic of Trailmix.Net is how these tools are applied. Trailmix.Net exists to help families enjoy the outdoors and one of the best ways to do this is to collaborate with others. Setting a goal is fun. Setting a goal, sharing the challenge, cheering others on, learning, and teaching in a community of likeminded friends takes that fun to another level.
There are a number of specific reasons why one would want to join Trailmix.Net, but one of the most obvious is the encroachment of the electronic world on our children. We’re not luddites here, believing that electronics and technical advancement must be opposed, but the world has changed quickly over the last ten years and those changes have had unintended consequences. One such consequence is that our children spend more time indoors than outdoors.
According to the Outdoor Industry Foundation:
· The average child spends 35 hours a week in front of the television.
· Currently, less than 25% of school-aged children participate in daily physical activity.
· Reduction in physical fitness is the largest culprit behind a 10% increase in childhood obesity.
A recent childhood obesity report shocked Canadians when they learned that one in four children is overweight. A similar finding was reported in the United States by the Centers for Disease Control in 2004:
…the percent of children who are overweight (defined as BMI-for-age at or above the 95th percentile of the CDC Growth Charts) continues to increase. Among children and teens ages 6-19, 16 percent (over 9 million) are overweight according to the 1999-2002 data, or triple what the proportion was in 1980.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/04facts/obesity.htm
Now, full discosure is required here: I am not exactly as trim as I should be and spending more time with my children on the trail would be a great improvement. But that is what this site is about.... Setting healthy goals and enjoying the outdoors as a family.
Read Part II