Amy Bantham 11/12/24 Amy Bantham 11/12/24

Creating a Movement of Movements to Improve Kids’ Well-being [Podcast Series]

[:54] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Taylor Walsh

Taylor Walsh is Founder and Director of WholeHealthED: The Center for Whole Health Learning in K-12.

[1:12] Background and inspiration for founding WholeHealthED

“And that really set the stage for what became WholeHealthED which was the idea of unifying this set of practices, the school garden, the teaching kitchen, time in nature, phys ed and mindfulness as kind of five core elements in a unified whole health learning framework.”

[7:10] Impact of five core elements on health

“The school garden is the perfect metaphor. It's a place of growing kids, managing their own growth. And the whole health learning prospect, Those, five areas share these kind, these attributes, which we believe are very important. One is their collaborative learning step. Kids learn to work together, to trust each other, and to take agency for the projects and everything that they that they undertake. They are hands on. We like to say brains on and hearts on as well.”

[10:45] Implementing a whole health learning pilot

“The program engaged the teachers. I like to use the term, it was kind of a light footprint on the curriculum and on the actual school day to engage the students and the faculty. And at the end of the semester, if I can jump to that point, the outcome was the 21st Century Learning folks did a survey, pre and post survey, which said that, said through each one of these subject areas, kids were engaged, and this was a highly significant experience for them…”

[15:31] Whole health learning as upstream prevention

“One of the reasons I'm on a steering committee of a whole health, whole person health coalition at NIH is to try to make the case that when kids are in these programs, these are about upstream prevention in real time. You can see this in real time, and it's about health promotion. And being able to say to our biomedical research colleagues, who are the best in the world, that it's equally important to keep healthy kids healthy.”

[21:11] Creating a movement of movements

“As you referred to, each one of these practice areas or domains has a movement driving, whether it's mindfulness or time in nature or nutrition and exercise. They are well entrenched, well established movements already. So we need a movement of movements, and that's what the coalition would be intended to try to pull together…”

[26:17] Centering child well-being

“I’’m looking for, what is the description of what the children, the students in school, are going to be doing personally that's going to give them an advantage, improve their health, improve their mental capacity, whatever it is. And you don't see that much. So the whole health learning prospect that says, if you want to deal with upstream prevention, right, let's put kids in a position where that's an outcome of what they're doing.”

Amy Bantham 10/29/24 Amy Bantham 10/29/24

Investing One Minute in Exercise for Five Minutes of Extra Life [Podcast Series]

[:54] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Dr. Euan Ashley

Dr. Euan Ashley is the Chair of the Department of Medicine at Stanford University.
He is also the author of The Genome Odyssey.

[1:11] Exercise as the single most potent medical intervention ever known

“There really just is nothing that we have in our whole pharmacopeia. If you think about all the medicines we could potentially give, there is really nothing with the potency of exercise. If you think about its multi-system nature, and the fact that you really can improve the health of every system in your body, and that it not only has preventive benefits for health, it has treatment benefits for disease conditions.”

[3:03] Reasons for the underprescription of exercise

“I'm a practicing cardiologist here at Stanford, and have been for the last 20 years. And so we see a lot of patients, and we talk to almost all of them about exercise, frankly. However, if you think about most clinical visits with a doctor, rather than having, say, time with a sub specialist, you often are getting a 10 or 15 minutes slot, and that poor doctor may be a family practitioner, has 12,18, more patients in the course of a day, and they need to get to the key question that you have when you come in, and they need to give you the best answer. Part of their answer might include exercise but, but just mentioning it is never going to be enough. So I think the answer really is time.”

[7:32] Motivation for studying exercise as a medical intervention

“But I was also really fascinated by the physiology of exercise, like, how is it that we take our bodies that operate for most people, of course, well sitting in a chair, and then transform that into sort of an engine of movement, and that requires interaction between all your body systems. And I was particularly interested in the heart, of course, in the heart’s response to exercise.”

[11:57] Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity Consortium (MoTrPAC) goals

“But when you have something as potent as exercise for both treating disease, as we've mentioned, and preventing disease, then maybe we should study that as well and work out how it works, and not that we're looking for an exercise pill, but rather it's so potent. There must be things we can learn about biology, and maybe there are ways eventually towards medications that could help people who, by studying the response to exercise and by studying people who are very fit, it's quite likely we're going to be able to learn things that can help people who are much less fit.”

[18:13] Molecular map of the body’s response to exercise

“I was really struck by the extent to which every single tissue changed. It changed completely. Like your body on exercise is just different. And these, it's almost like these were different rats, right? There were different organisms after exercise. And it wasn't, you know, it was just a few weeks of training than they were prior. So that was kind of number one for me, was just how different they were.”

[24:36] Supercharging research on exercise

“So our hope is, by sharing the data, we can really supercharge globally the science that's happening at the molecular level around exercise.”

[28:47] Return on investment in exercise

“I mean, it's really my favorite fact of any fact in the world, and it comes up because a lot of the time, and you just made this point well, that people feel they don't have time to exercise. And I get that. And there are lots of ways we can think of helping people answer that question, but, but the way I usually start, which I'm not sure what they think when I tell them this, but, but it's the way I usually start, is by telling them that you definitely have time to exercise, because data has clearly shown that one minute of exercise will buy you five minutes of extra life.”

Amy Bantham 10/15/24 Amy Bantham 10/15/24

Building Social Connection to Live a Long and Healthy Life [Podcast Series]

[:54] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Simon Matthews

Simon Matthews is a Director at the Global Positive Health Institute.
He is faculty and mentor with Wellcoaches.

[1:10] Background in psychology, fitness and coaching

“And the more I, the more I got involved in that, the more I realized that I was kind of tumbling into what we now call lifestyle medicine and, and that helped me draw together even more, those various elements of of exercise, nutrition, and then additionally, things like sleep and mind-body awareness and so on to support not just mental health, but my perspective started expanding to whole person health.”

[5:10] Lifestyle medicine pillars

“Behavioral change is the, is the mechanism, it's the process, it's the engine room by which we bring those pillars to life. And social connection is the way that we link them all together. And we can see social connection, of course, present in all of those pillars.”

[9:06] Knocking down silos in lifestyle medicine

“And the other thing that the siloed thinking does is that it encourages, encourages, I think, practitioners, to become invested in their favorite silo, whatever that may be, whether it's nutrition or physical activity or sleep. And the whole point of lifestyle medicine is that these things go together.”

[12:10] Linking whole person health and social connection

“We know that social, social connection, close relationships, lead to pro health choices, in other words, where we're more likely to make decisions about our health that are good for us when we're socially connected. And there's all sorts of mechanisms for that, including just the idea of social influence, including the idea of role modeling or vicarious learning.”

[17:03] Building strong social networks

“The single biggest difference in terms of a shaping influence on outcomes in behavior change is actually the skills, the resources, the networks of the patient themselves, and their capacity to keep on developing and making use of those over time.”

[22:31] Role modeling

“So a role model is someone, for me, someone who is kind of sufficiently, sufficiently close to me that I feel like I have a connection with at some level, and whose behavior directly influences mine. A hero is more remote than that. A hero is someone who inspires and excites and enthuses, but, but doesn't necessarily help me to adopt particular, a particular behavior or patterns or habits.”

[28:52] Actionable tips for building social connection

“Listen first. And I'm not simply talking about listening to words. I'm talking about listening to emotion, listening to experience, listening to wisdom that the person might have, listening to their own longings. Listen for needs, listen for desires, listen for wishes, and listen to everything that the person expresses in what they say.”

Amy Bantham 9/24/24 Amy Bantham 9/24/24

Keeping Kids in Sports by Removing Logistics Barriers [Podcast Series]

[:54] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Zoya Lehrer

Co-Founder and CEO of Orgo
She is the mom of three athletes and a 20 year veteran technologist

[1:09] Orgo sports scheduling app inspiration

“We've been blessed to produce three competitive swimmers on our own, and then we do lacrosse and soccer and club stuff and a little bit of dance and all of the things. And so what started to become problematic was the fact that three athletes deep, three to four activities per day, and two working parents, full-time working parents, the scheduling and logistics and the execution of all of our commitments had become truly burdensome in a way that it felt good to sign them up for those things. It felt important for them to participate within them. But then when it came time to execute against all of the things that we had to do, you know, from like 4pm into seemingly 10pm is where all of those challenges began to become a true problem for us. Specifically, was around the fact that the tools, the technology that we have had in a home and as part of our family unit was notably lacking, and so this has been experienced for quite a few years. So it's not like something that we just woke up to. We were in search of something that would help us move through space and time and the day more efficiently.”

[4:57] Finding a tech solution to a family sports scheduling problem

“But lacking were the details that I found were more so living within my text threads, WhatsApp groups and email chains, and that was the specific details surrounding the execution on those events that otherwise do not live in that calendar. And that is where that overhead would live. That's where the burden would lie.”

[10:05] Benefits of youth sports

“FOMA, fear of missed activities, is driving so much of our decision making as parents in this ever competitive world where we want to give our kids, yes, definitely that health edge, staying in shape, mentally, physically, and just, you know, all of those wonderful benefits that we know exist, but also competitively...”

[13:53] Parents as role models

“So to not lose ourselves right in that runaround and to reflect our own yes, physical needs, but also mental and everything else that comes along with that definitely ties into the way that we think about overall the platform allowing to measure time accurately, and once we do, we can then start to make those better decisions for ourselves.”

[19:38] Removing logistics barriers to keep kids in sports

“So if we can remove that element of angst, lack of control, and frankly, it turns into lack of desire, like despite all of the wonderful benefits, if that means that every time my kid gets into the car, again, from her perspective, as well as mine, we're in such a frenzy that when we're in the car, doesn't matter where we're going, to the soccer that she may love or to whatever else, if that's a negative pairing and association that says, Wow, I don't feel good when I look forward to that particular event coming up. Like, that's what we would love to tap into and essentially remove.”

[22:31] Addressing the logistics gap

“So that's when I started to kind of think about and talk about Orgo specifically within that setting, is to say, if we can help bridge the logistical gap and enable someone to start working with one another within a community, and say, You got Monday, I got Tuesday, you got Wednesday, I got Thursday, you've got pick up, I've got drop off. Much of what we all naturally do kind of within pockets of ourselves. But let's do that at scale and have a tool that will facilitate that conversation and memorialize some of that collaboration. Maybe, just maybe, a single mom who's got multiple kids working multiple jobs can rely on another person similarly in this situation, and next thing you know, they bring their entire village into the equation, and we're able to get, you know, more kids into sports and activities and keep them there longer.”

Amy Bantham 9/10/24 Amy Bantham 9/10/24

Getting More Kids Moving by Providing Access to Sports Equipment [Podcast Series]

[:54] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Kaitlin Brennan

Kaitlin Brennan is the Chief Operating Officer at Leveling the Playing Field.

[1:07] Leveling the Playing Field mission and vision

“We're a nonprofit organization that redistributes equipment to expand access and equity within youth sports and recreation programs in under-resourced communities. But the easiest way to kind of understand who we are and what we do is we're a food bank for sports equipment.”

[3:24] Finding a common sense solution to a real problem

“So to really provide a solution and a positive point of connection for both the folks who have the resource as well as the folks who need the resource, that's really kind of the secret sauce to Leveling the Playing Field, that we're really providing that service to all different stakeholders within the youth sports community.”

[6:32] Logistics of sports equipment redistribution

“So really, behind the scenes, there is a lot going on. Again, there are three kind of main components of our model, and each one requires quite, quite a lot of logistical investment, I'd say. First off, we have collection, so we have to get the gear before we can give away the gear. And a lot of times, we're engaging with those youth sports moms and dads, those families who, again, their kid plays sports year round. They're constantly growing. They're generating more stuff than they know what to do with.”

[11:50] Expanding to different regions

“So we hear all, you know, both the problem and the solution from other communities, and that, at the end of the day, is super motivating for expanding and growing that LPF model, because we have been able to crack the code in terms of doing this at a larger scale. One of the key factors as to how we've been able to grow is that we really spent the necessary time and lessons learned to be able to manage the scale of the gear that we're working with and pushing right back out into the community.”

[16:25] Building trusted partnerships

“Partnerships and really authentic partnerships, that's a cornerstone of everything that we do. So we're really leveraging that partnership to get the gear in the door when it comes to engaging a more affluent sports league. Hey, please run this collection drive. We're asking you to trust us, that we're a legitimate organization, that we're going to be good partners, that we're going to deliver and pick up the gear when we say we're going to pick up the gear, get you the information when you need it.”

[20:53] Removing equipment cost barriers

“So in terms of impact, yeah, we recognize that it's more than a soccer ball. It's more than just a pair of cleats. What it really translates to is making sure that that kid has the resources he or she needs to be able to step onto the field comfortably, confidently and safely, to engage in something that could be, you know, a sport they're trying for the first time. It could be a physical education class where it's really the only opportunity they have to engage within organized play.”

[25:57] Project Play Communities

“And I think within youth sports development, it's even tighter, because, again, it's taken so long for people to just recognize sports is more than just a nice to have. It's a development tool. So I think it's been really interesting to see that again, LPF can kind of exist at this intersection between the school system, park and recs, private sector, professional sports like we can exist in the middle of all of that, and it's because we have a reason to engage each and every one of those stakeholders. It's through collecting the gear. It's through volunteerism. It's through distribution.”

Amy Bantham 9/3/24 Amy Bantham 9/3/24

Prescribing Exercise as Medicine for Patients Worldwide[Podcast Series]

[:54] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Petter Aasa

Petter Aasa is Co-Founder and CEO of Vitala

[1:05] Vitala inspiration

“One of the things that we could focus on in order to have an impact in the global healthcare system is just okay, how can we work more with prevention through lifestyle interventions? And how do we actually prescribe lifestyle interventions to patients just as easily as any other types of medication?”

[3:14] Physical activity prescription follow-up

“We are being prescribed as a mobile application to the patients, which is guiding them through daily physical activity that's completely based on the users’ unique combinations of their medical diagnosis and comorbidities, functional ability and physical capabilities, musculoskeletal pain levels, their varying daily form and, of course, their own goals and preferences.”

[7:54] Physical activity prescription barriers

“Number one, even though we all know that physical activity is important, a lot of the physicians or nurses or other providers, they don't really know how to exactly custom tailor physical activity to the patients and their unique health status, so we're doing that automatically just through our platform.”

[12:31] Healthcare provider response

“And I mean, our overall goal is that exercise is going to be the standard of care, no matter if it's for patients in the prevention of disease or during specific medical treatments. And looking at the way that we are working around these different challenges through our platform, through the new technologies, it's amazing to see the response of the provider once they have the right tools and they're starting to see the feedback and hearing the uptake in patient satisfaction, because at the end of the day, you become a healthcare provider because you want to help people.”

[17:48] Remote therapeutic monitoring

“And I think remote therapeutic monitoring is a big way to actually allow the incorporation, integration of exercise as medicine to patients. I mean, for just the musculoskeletal aspects and also respiratory diagnosis and the patient population as well, and how we are using, I mean, remote therapeutic monitoring and working with a lot of providers across the U.S. that are now starting their RTM programs around, you know, the way that we're prescribing exercise to these different patient populations…”

[23:50] ROI for exercise

“It looks like the best life hack there ever is. You know, we have people all over the world looking at different life hacks on YouTube and things for all kinds of scenarios in life. But just looking at the massive impact that exercise can have on one's life, it's absolutely amazing.”

[27:08] Exercise as a magic pill

“If exercise could be bottled into a pill, it would be almost illegal for every provider not to prescribe it to every single one of their patients. That's the way that, when we're actually looking at this like magical pill, that's the way that we should be seeing this as well.”

[29:54] Making exercise a standard of care for patients worldwide

“We said from the beginning, if we can make a change for one person, we're happy, we've done a great job. But now we're seeing the opportunity to actually have a global impact on millions and millions of patients worldwide, and really transitioning, how we're looking at, how we're working with patients, facilitating that, from the reactive care to the proactive care. And I think it's this, I think it's going to become the standard of care.”

Amy Bantham 8/13/24 Amy Bantham 8/13/24

Laying the Foundation for Kids to Be Physically Active for Life[Podcast Series]

[:54] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Dr. Jayne Greenberg

Dr. Jayne Greenberg is North American Chair of the International Sport & Culture Association.
She spent 22 years as the District Director of Physical Education and Health Literacy for Miami-Dade County Public Schools.

[1:38] Career focus on physical education

“I always had a penchant for being physically active. And that just stayed with me as I became a varsity athlete moving through middle school, high school, and college sports. So physical education, I always said I never worked a day in my life, I live my passion.”

[2:24] Physical education and equity

“Physical education is the only equitable place where all children, children with disabilities, children from the general population, children from various cultures and communities, underserved populations. It's the only place where there's an equitable opportunity to learn every type of sport and be physically active throughout the school day.”

[4:56] Partnering successfully

“This is how partnerships work. You don't get anything unless you ask. And you have to have a need. And once you find the need, then the community steps up. So it's the same formula, have a need approach a partner, don't always take no for an answer. Sometimes it's hard, no, but it's a reciprocal process. You have to recognize the partners in your programs, keep them updated on newsletters, invite them to ceremonies. And then it works. But it's a reciprocal process. And it's available in every community.”

[9:06] Empowering physical education teachers

“Because as a district leader, I could have done anything. But if I didn't have the 650 phys ed teachers behind me, it would not have worked. I couldn't stand alone. I needed to stand actually on the, on the shoulders of our teachers. And I would say we had the best group of physical education teachers in Miami Dade County Public Schools.”

[10:46] Local advocacy

“And we saw in the state of Florida, what we call the recess moms, how they got recess mandated during the school day, but not at the expense of eliminating the daily physical education that's a mandate in the state of Florida at the elementary school. So empowering parents and empowering your community and let them run with it, they get it.”

[13:44] Collective impact

“[C]ollective impact makes a difference. And let's not forget the voice of the kids, kids’ voices also. And we scratch our head with the same thing. When we saw math scores go down, they added more math, they added more money for tutoring, they extended the school day. When reading scores went down, they did the same thing. Extended the school, they added more reading specialists, gave more money into tutoring. When the health of children goes down and children are unfit, we cut programs. It's a reverse dichotomy that I just can’t wrap my head around that.”

[18:32] Finding school champions

“So just as we talked about finding the champion that's the physical education administrator, you also need to find the champion on the school board and the champion in the community that has a contact with school board members.”

[23:04] Quality physical education

“Quality physical education, in my eyes, was always active teaching. Teachers making the environment where kids want to be there. Teachers monitoring what the kids are doing, seeing who may need a little extra help, giving constructive criticism so that the child improves on what they're doing. When there's quality and active teaching and it's a fun environment where kids want to be there, that’s what people look for.”

[25:43] Promoting quality physical education

“But if you ask a classroom teacher to teach 100 kids a period and get results, you'll get a are you kidding me type of response. So kudos to the physical education teachers that know how to toot their own horn. But we have to do a better job of that.”

[27:26] Linking physical education and healthcare costs

“You know, the latest numbers are only 19% of high school students take physical education daily, and in the last 10 years have dropped from 29% to 19%. That's not a trend that we want to see continue, and then wonder why we have such large healthcare costs, and an unfit generation moving forward.”

[30:25] Collective goal

“So collectively, we need to say one, we need to get kids moving two we need to get back into schools where every single child has an opportunity to be physically active during the five days throughout the school year.”

Amy Bantham 7/30/24 Amy Bantham 7/30/24

Inspiring Girl Empowerment with Life Skills, Confidence and Physical Activity [Podcast Series]

[:54] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Dr. Allie Riley

Dr. Allie Riley is Chief Program Officer at Girls on the Run.
Her research, program design, evaluation and implementation has all been in the physical activity-based youth development space.

[1:13] Girls on the Run Introduction

“Girls on the Run is a physical activity-based positive youth development program. And we are using running and other physical activity to teach life skills so managing emotions, resolving conflict. We do that in small teams of girls across the country. So we have over 170 local councils that deliver the program in their community. And teams are happening primarily in the after school space.”

[2:54] Volunteer coach model

“So we engage about 40,000 volunteer coaches each year to bring Girls on the Run to communities so truly could not do it without our amazing volunteer coaches.”

[4:02] Empowering girls with life skills, confidence and increased physical activity

“So I think, from top to bottom, and across, we are all focused on empowering girls around these same goals of learning life skills, building confidence, and increasing physical activity levels.”

[8:18] Building confidence

“So I think we want to provide those tools and resources and build up confidence and give really concrete tools so that as they enter into adolescence, middle school adolescence, they are equipped with the tools they need to navigate these declines in confidence and other challenges that they'll face.”

[10:54] Centering the voices of girls

“So I think those two things are key and whether it's a curriculum-based program like ours or a sport-based program, how can you center the voices of girls and ask them what they want as you're thinking about programming. So I think we start there. And then, you know, we weave in fun games and activities, topics that are important to them…”

[16:17] Evidence-based program design

“We want to make sure we're making an impact. We're reaching a lot of girls. We want to reach a lot more girls, but we want to make sure that every kid is growing life skills, confidence, and increasing physical activities and all the things that our program is designed to, to deliver on.”

[20:28] Evaluating program impact

“And through that study, we saw 97% of girls develop critical life skills throughout the course of the program. A stat that I think this group of listeners will love is that girls who are least active at the beginning of the season increase their physical activity level by 40%. And they maintain that at the follow-up three months out.”

[25:42] Middle school curriculum

“It is focused on, it's all centered around the girl wheel. So whole girl, whole child development, and provides even more space, voice and choice for kids and having them facilitate parts on their own.”

[27:19] Call to action

“So if you are interested in Girls on the Run specifically, you can look for it in your community. If you go to our website, you can find, figure out if it's in your community. Encourage someone at your school to bring it to the school If it's already there, sign up. And if you can, coach, obviously, that is amazing as well.”

Amy Bantham 7/16/24 Amy Bantham 7/16/24

Centering the Voices of People with Disabilities in Physical Activity Research and Advocacy [Podcast Series]

[:54] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Amy Rauworth

Amy Rauworth is Chief Research and Innovation Officer at the Lakeshore Foundation.
She is a clinical exercise physiologist by training and serves as a fellow member of the Physical Activity Alliance Board.

[1:12] Lakeshore Foundation mission and vision

“We work with a lot of other organizations in evidence-based approaches, because so many times for those of you who are in physical activity or health promotion, obesity prevention research areas, a lot of those studies really excluded people with disabilities. So we can't wait 17 years for that knowledge translation from that randomized controlled trial to hit the streets because the discrimination is real, the access barriers are real. And the data shows us that people with disabilities have greater issues with their health. So Lakeshore is trying to really do advocacy, research and activity to come at this from a collective impact and especially through partnerships because we couldn't do it without our partners.”

[3:54] Focusing on disability inclusion

“However, I think that there's so much that we all can do to make inclusion and specifically disability inclusion really easy, that doesn't cost a lot and that really creates community, and that space and place where we all want to be.”

[7:38] Centering the voices of people with disabilities

“And I think that's really important to know that it takes a collective movement, and we all have things that we can contribute. But there's times where I need to step up and step back, and I need to stop with whatever I think might be the best health intervention or the evidence-based approach. And I just listen, and like you said, always center the voices of people with disabilities.”

[13:23] Language around disability inclusion

“But it used to be person first. Now it can be identity first, because people are owning that. So there's, there's campaigns that say hashtag, say the word, which is disability, no more made up words, like differently abled. Because in general, disability only has a bad stigma, generally, to people without disabilities. So people with disabilities understand that this is their lived experience and being healthy and having a disability is not an oxymoron.”

[20:46] Creating welcoming, inclusive environments

“Is the meeting environment accessible for someone with a physical disability who uses a wheelchair? Or does the stage have a ramp, all these types of things are things that we can all think about to make a more inclusive, welcoming environment, certainly.”

[22:19] Sport for diplomacy

“But I'll use, for example, Lakeshore as a Paralympic and Olympic training site. We really understand the importance of sport and sport for change and sport for development, sport for diplomacy. We do exchanges with other countries, where people come here through the State Department and we learned from them, they learned from us. It really is this way to create opportunity and understand humanity, that we're all more alike than we are different.”

[28:10] Advocating for disability inclusion

“But also there might be a lack of curb cuts or a lack of sidewalks. And so I would encourage folks the next time that they go out to be physically active on their trails or in their neighborhoods, to look at those built environments, and then to start to advocate to your City Council or to your Parks and Recs facility to create some maintenance components that may be needed or required. So everybody has a voice and they can use it.”

Amy Bantham 6/18/24 Amy Bantham 6/18/24

Leading with the Ask When Communicating Health & Fitness to Policy Makers[Podcast Series]

[:54] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Mark Bayer

Mark Bayer is Founder at Bayer Strategic Consulting.
He held a Chief of Staff position in the U.S. Senate and House for years.

[1:09] Tips for constituents visiting policy makers on Capitol Hill

“I would view this as like the opening bell of a relationship, and also sort of thinking about like this, to really have an impact, you do need to build a relationship. It's sort of like exercise, right? If you go to the gym once every year, you're not gonna see results. So if you just drop by your member of Congress's office, once or even, you know, whatever, like once every six months, you're not going to see the benefits.”

[4:46] Leading with the ask in policy maker meetings

“With health and fitness, most people are kind of aware generally of what the issues are, right? So leading with the ask is so important, and making, and personalizing it as well. And even asking questions, you know, so it's not a monologue, right? If you just have your speech, and you're gonna deliver that you're gonna deliver that thing. You know, it's not as engaging as if you're talking, you vary your tone a little bit, maybe you pause, you ask an open ended question, things like that. But leading with the ask is the number one.”

[11:25] Connecting with people before discussing substance

“You know, one thing that I talked about is in communication is we often leave out the, what I consider the foundation of this whole interaction that you're going to have one way or another regardless of the the modality you use, which is this feeling of connection on a personal level, you know, connecting with the person, before you start talking about positions or substance.”

[16:13] Establishing ourselves as similar to our audience

“We need to feel like we're understood. And we're seen. And we're not being preached to, that we're on the same level, and other people have these challenges.”

[18:14] Making information relevant for the audience

“The big question is, why should I care? Why should I devote any cognitive firepower to what you're talking about? And that, once you start to think that way, then you think about, well, how can I make it relevant to their everyday? And how can I talk about results that would really either they would experience or they would see out in the everyday world, and then lead with that instead of the more linear type of thinking that we talked about before.”

[24:13] Balancing data and evidence and emotion

“But you as a leader in the field and your colleagues, thinking about how can we incorporate emotion? We talked a lot about this before, your own personal experiences and struggles, right, along with data and evidence. And then of course, you've got the credentials, I should listen to this person, they're a real expert. They're not just somebody, you know, I only see on YouTube who doesn't seem to have any real background in studies or data or anything that's really, you know, credible.”

Amy Bantham 5/31/24 Amy Bantham 5/31/24

Making Preventive Health, Youth Sports and Military Readiness Relatable to Policy Makers[Podcast Series]

[:54] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Liz Clark

Liz Clark is the President and CEO of the Health & Fitness Association.
She is also Board Chair and President of the Health & Fitness Association Foundation and a fellow board member of the Physical Activity Alliance.

[1:17] IHRSA to Health & Fitness Association rebrand

“So I've seen nothing but positive response, more energy, more focus, and more opportunity. And I know that we're going to talk a little bit about this today, Amy, but an opportunity to be really part of the health continuum and be a part of that conversation. Because we are bigger than sport. We know that we are preventative health care. And so to have a brand that reflects all that has been really tremendous.”

[3:41] Business owners advocating on Capitol Hill

“But, so, to be able to have the data, the stats, the talking points, and to bring these people together, to talk about why our industry matters, is one of the things that I'm most passionate about. They're busy running their gyms, fitness centers, and then those that represent the supplier community, they all took time to step out of their busy days and step out of their comfort zone, to come do an important job, which if you think about it is almost like an insurance policy. So these people can make or break and create policies that are good for your business, or really, really bad for your business.”

[9:48] Messages about military readiness

“But, Amy, you struck is such an important part on the military readiness side. And there is an urgency to it. There's two really scary statistics around military readiness right now. One is that of people that are of age to be able to join the military, 77% of those cannot qualify for the military. And already we're having a hard time getting people to raise their hand and want to join. And then you look at that. And that's a really scary stat. The other really scary stat is of existing military, 61% of those are considered overweight or obese. So we've got work to do with our existing folks in the military, recruiting new ones. And I think taking care of our veterans too. It's all part of this important conversation. And so that is definitely resonating.”

[14:20] Connecting the military to local health & fitness centers

“If you are an existing member of the military and you don't live on base, and you live within 10 miles from the base, which has a gym, if you're 10 miles or farther away, then then you can use NDAA funding to go to a gym and a fitness center for you and your family.”

[16:04] Relating to youth sports

“But I think that the reason why I think that the youth story is going to put us over the top is because everybody can relate to it. Whether you have your own children or nieces or nephews or neighbors, you understand what physical movement meant. And you know, we all like to talk, those of us that are, you know, my age about how we just used to go outside and play. We just used to go ride our bike around the neighborhood and now it's not like that. And so you've got to actually add some incentives to the kids to do that. Unfortunately, right? We know with PE coming out of the schools, but, but there's all kinds of other opportunities and creative solutions for movement and for kids...”

[21:11] Relating to mental health

“And it's something that again, all these lawmakers understand while they're whether they've maybe gone through something personally, or their kids have gone through something personally, or somebody they know and love. In some way, shape or form. I mean, all of us know people that are having mental health challenges. So I just think we have a tremendous opportunity as the as the Foundation Board to be doing more. More ties to that as the solution, more research to that as a solution. And to continue to just elevate that narrative, and then how we are an industry that's inclusive, we are an industry that's affordable.”

[24:40] Making it fun

“And so I think we need to keep it fun, especially when you're looking at the kids. And also for adults it translates. And so there's a consumer demand for it. And we shouldn't shy away from that.”

[27:25] Working with alliances

“In my mind, getting policies across the board is the name of the game if you have a strong coalition, and a diverse coalition. So I think that you need to look at the universe of what you're trying to do and who that impacts and find all of those bodies in some way, shape or form to be in the room...”

Amy Bantham 5/21/24 Amy Bantham 5/21/24

Spreading Awareness of How Motion Impacts Emotion [Podcast Series]

[:55] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Dr. Adel Korkor

Dr. Adel Korkor is Founder and CEO of the AB Korkor Foundation for Mental Health.
He is a nephrologist based in Wisconsin.

[1:10] Discovering the linkage between movement and mental health

“So, over time, I really became very, very involved in running. I run every day in my life. And I think by the time I turned 70, I estimated that I've run close to about 25,000 miles. I mean, not to put the numbers really in perspective, it's just that I think what running has really done to my mental health, and my physical well-being.”

[6:35] Starting a foundation addressing movement and mental health

“So the long answer to your question is that this transformation really and the desire to do what I did with my foundation is derived from my own personal experience and from my experience in taking care of patients with end stage renal disease and others who suffer from mental health issues. And also by seeing how the lack of physical activity has impacted their physical health as well.”

[11:07] Finding the root causes of disease

“It's because we are really accustomed to caring for disease, the diabetes, the hypertension, obesity, and all of these. And our healthcare system is really more centric around finding a new treatment for obesity, finding a new drug for diabetes, finding a new drug for hypertension, and not realizing why can’t we get to the root of a problem. Why can't we get back and say okay, you know what, dedicating 15, 20, 30 minutes of physical activity a day can spare us so much more.”

[18:25] Five Fifty Fifty Run/Walk Series

“And then really to bring awareness to the fact that physical activity is un invasive, no side effect, minimal risk is that that that really brings awareness to the fact that those activities really matter when it comes to how you feel every single day.”

[24:09] Foundation initiatives and strategic priorities

“And throughout that period of time, we pretty much offered almost a million dollars that we gave from the Foundation to support those initiatives of assisting individuals to get the mental health certificate. So that's one thing that we're trying to do is really looking at the access to mental health and trying to, mental health care, and trying to improve on that.”

Amy Bantham 5/14/24 Amy Bantham 5/14/24

Changing the Culture of Youth Sports with Positive Coaching Experiences [Podcast Series]

[:55] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Jason Sacks

Jason Sacks is President at Positive Coaching Alliance.
He is a long time coach who has been in the youth sports space for almost two decades.

[1:09] Doing youth sports right

“But we believe that it has to be sports done right. You need to be deliberate with how youth sports is done in order for kids to take advantage of all the positive benefits that it has to offer. Because we know that if we are not deliberate and it's not done right, then youth sports can actually be a breeding ground for a lot of negative things like abuse of many different kinds. And it lends kids to drop out early, and then we lose out on the opportunity that youth sports provides.”

[2:46] Fun in youth sports

“I think the system of youth sports right now, it's a $30 billion industry. Our rush to get kids to travel, you know, quote unquote, elite programs quicker, I think, is actually taking the fun out of the sports, it's putting more pressure on them. It's forcing them to specialize or play multiple sports within the same season.”

[6:25] Keeping kids in youth sports

“And so I think we need to get organizations to understand and then more specifically, to be able to hold their coaches accountable of what is this culture that you want to create that's going to provide the best possible environment for kids. And in order for kids to feel connected, they need to feel safe, they need to feel seen, heard and valued when they come to that, that practice, that game, whatever it might be.”

[12:43] Creating a positive coaching experience

“[W]hen you set those effort-based goals, it gives you more opportunities as a coach to provide positive feedback to the kids, right? And that's going to, again, keep their emotional tanks full, it's gonna want them to continue to play, they're having more enjoyable experience, and then they're open to learning more as well.”

[17:26] Developing physical literacy

“[W]hat can we be doing as coaches to get them a lot of reps, to get them a lot of action, so that they want to stay playing the game because to your point, that is, we are setting a foundation of how we want them to think about physical literacy and the way that they're living their life.”

[19:13] Positive youth development

“I think that's the good news, that people see the value of youth sports. It's everywhere. It's where communities gather on the weekends and at night, like, that is a good thing. I think it can turn into something that is like not so great, if used in the wrong way. I think the other good thing is that people are starting to see youth sports as a platform for positive youth development.”

[22:17] Addressing sports equity gaps

“I think creating environments where, again, going back to the beginning of the podcast, creating environments that are welcoming, where kids feel connection. Who their coach is and what their coach looks like, plays a huge role in that.”

[26:42] Setting kids up for success with youth sports

“And so when we think about the opportunity that adults have, and their actions dictate so much of whether or not a child stays involved in sports. That's a really important job that we have as adults to make sure that this youth sports experience is so positive because, sure, there's a lot of great things that can happen within that season. But really, this is setting up those kids for success down the road.”

[28:59] Fostering positive coaching experiences

“As a parent, take a look at where you put the most emphasis. And then the next time you're out on the sideline, are you cheering for what you hold most important? Or are you saying you know what, winning and results aren't that important. But then the only time you're cheering is when they score a goal or they score a basket, right? If you say, I just want them to have fun and physical fitness and meet friends, then are we recognizing and cheering for that?”

Amy Bantham 5/7/24 Amy Bantham 5/7/24

Health & Fitness Industry Advocacy and Innovation [Podcast Series]

[:55] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Adam Zeitsiff

Adam Zeitsiff is Chair of the National Health & Fitness Alliance.

[1:13] Advocating for the health & fitness industry

“And the first time is a little intimidating, because you've never been there and you’re walking through the halls of basically the leaders of the free world, and you get a chance to really get on Capitol Hill and talk to your local members of Congress—and if you get lucky maybe senators—about why your industry obviously the fitness industry benefits their constituents, how it helps them get healthy, how it helps drive jobs in their backyard, how it helps improve the lives of Americans.”

[4:54] Addressing the youth mental health crisis

“It really took its toll on kids. And the one thing that brought kids out of their shell, many other things, but the big thing that brought them out of their shell after that was just getting outside, being active, playing sports again with their friends. You don't have to be a tremendous jock going to college, you could just be playing T ball in the backyard with your friends or running around playing frisbee in the street. But that's what got kids out of the house. That's what got them excited. And that's what got them moving again, and I think it really did have a positive effect on their mental health...”

[8:47] Amplifying the voice of the industry

“Our job is to be advocates for the advocates. So our job is to really amplify the voice of what the health and fitness association is doing with our state and federal leaders, right.”

[14:55] Technology trends supporting physical activity behavior change

“I think it really makes it so that we can have a continuous level of engagement with our members through wearables—regardless of their age or fitness levels—I think, that transcends everything. So I think that is an important one. I think what we're doing is just at the tip of the iceberg. I know, wearables is old hat 5, 6, 7 years ago, but we still not haven't cracked the code as to how to make them really key with members' health and fitness journeys.”

[19:51] Augmenting in-person fitness with AI

“I think we never preached that virtual fitness was going to replace in-person fitness. And just like that, I don't believe that AI and things like that are ever going to replace in-person fitness or in-person personal trainers, things of that nature. They're going to, they're going to augment them to make what they do from a one to one or one to many basis even better.”

[22:33] Anti-obesity medications as an opportunity for the industry

“I feel that GLP-1s and the appropriate prescription of them could bring on a new era of collaboration. Finally, a real era of collaboration between health and fitness, right, hence the name of our organization as doctors and medical world and fitness finally has really something even better to collaborate on, and maybe this is the kickstart we need to have us continue to work together...”

[26:03] Prescribing strength training

“This is a great chance for our industry folks and gyms to go out there and build partnerships and get a continual referral stream that has nothing to do with health insurance, co-pays and CPT codes. Just, hey, my doctor just prescribed this to me. He said I should really be lifting weights three or four days a week. How can you help? There’s another customer.”

Amy Bantham 4/30/24 Amy Bantham 4/30/24

Making the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans Accessible with Move Your Way® [Podcast Series]

[:55] Dr. Bantham introduces her guests, Malorie Polster and Katie Costello

Malorie Polster is Physical Activity Advisor at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.
Katie Costello is ORISE Health Communications Fellow at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

[1:18] Making the Physical Activity Guidelines accessible

“But the Physical Activity Guidelines is really a resource that's meant for health professionals and policymakers and educators. Not really the general public. So that is why we created the Move Your Way campaign.”
“So rather than portraying physical activity in that very vigorous way, or in very specific settings, in a gym, we try to use the campaign to highlight different forms of physical activity and emphasize that physical activity can be fun and social, and it can be personalized to fit into your everyday life.”

[7:20] Translating the evidence for different audiences

“And we know previous recommendations of 30 minutes five days a week, that really stuck with people and it's easier for people to conceptualize. But there's actually a huge challenge with promoting that scientifically, because then you're saying someone has to be active for at least 30 minutes for it to count. And we know that that's not true.”

[10:52] Determining what resonates with different audiences

“We've generally found that the main messages of Move Your Way, really promoting the social components of being active. People really do want to get active with their friends, with their family, they don't like to do it alone. And helping people find ways to be active that are really enjoyable or fit well into their lifestyles really do resonate across all of those audiences.”

[14:02] Positive framing to support consumer behavior change

“And we've done so much expansion of materials that we have been able over time to really reinforce some of those key messages that people do really react to positively across the board, like the messages that it all adds up and find what works for you.”

[17:18] Communities using the campaign to help community members move their way

“We know communities know their audiences best so we knew it was important to make sure Move Your Way materials could be adapted to fit a community's needs, resources and opportunities. So communities can tailor the materials to make sure they resonate with their audiences.”
“The flexibility and ability to customize materials, like swap out photos. We, of course, are trying to include so many diverse images in our materials, but like the example from Southern Nevada, we're not going to be able to hit every single community. So the fact that communities can swap them out on their own…”

[21:17] Community Playbook resources making an impact

“But I think how bringing together the partners in their community, through Move Your Way, they were able to leverage existing partners, and like re engage partners that they had lost, and also bring in new partners. So I think it was the ability to put everything together into one cohesive, unified package that really, that we heard from those pilots, really made an impact for them.”

[25:43] Making the Community Playbook even more actionable and accessible

“In 2028, and even before that, what we're really trying to do is make that playbook even more accessible, more easy to use, more actionable.”
“People see Move Your Way and they look at the materials and they say, this is the message that our health department is trying to get out there. This is the direction we want to go with our physical activity promotion, we align with this.”

Amy Bantham 4/16/24 Amy Bantham 4/16/24

Reaching Across Silos to Increase Global Physical Activity Levels [Podcast Series]

[:55] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Emma Zwiebler

Emma Zwiebler is the Interim CEO at the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry.
She is a former professional athlete.

[1:12] Working together to transform physical activity behavior

“But one of the key things for our work, particularly around physical activity, is the partnerships that we have. We very much believe that particularly in the case of physical inactivity levels globally, which I'm sure we'll come on to, it's not something that can be resolved by the industry alone. It can't be resolved by governments alone or by policymakers or NGOs. We have to find a way in which we can work together if we are to transform behavior on a global level.”

[4:08] Connecting the dots between strategic priorities

“But there we had the opportunity to join the dots between why people being more active and therefore more resilient from a health standpoint is critical for a sustainable future.”

[6:12] Garnering attention for physical activity

“But I think we also have to find somehow a better way to communicate the importance of movement, and maybe physical activity as a phrase is the aspect that lets us down. My husband actually calls me a physical activity activist. So, but I do agree with you that it's a challenge somehow to get the message to cut through and that's one of the big things that we're trying to work on with our key partners.”

[9:37] Physical inactivity as an existential threat to the sporting goods industry

“And I think we do have to do that journey to look back to understand how we've ended up where we are today. I think maybe the first thing to say is that this is an industry that has skin in the game if you want. The less active people are, generally the less people consume our products. And so the future growth of our industry is intrinsically linked to activity levels and current trends pose what we really consider to be an existential threat to our industry.”

[16:35] Public-private partnerships to increase global physical activity levels

“When you look at physical activity or increasing physical activity levels globally, we are talking about large-scale behavioral or societal change and that cannot be achieved by individual industries, so sporting goods industry alone, or governments or local community organizations alone. Specifically for that reason that there's so many different touch points that affect whether a child or an adult will first of all be interested or motivated or engaged to become, to play sport or be active.”
“It's quite similar to some of the messages that you have around your podcast and the ambition is that we want to be part of a collective wave of change that drives a more active planet. We do recognize it's an ambitious goal. But we believe that private sector collaboration and private sector engagement in these big societal topics can have a meaningful and sustained impact, particularly where you have this unique alignment of public and private sector goals.”

[26:01] Reaching across silos
- “But what I can say is that, that action of reaching out across the silos is so important, because it's given us a platform. We're not there yet, as I said, but it's given us this platform and this opportunity to try to showcase change, and to try to showcase the impact that we can have by working together—totally different organizations, totally different stakeholder groups.”

Amy Bantham 3/31/24 Amy Bantham 3/31/24

Healthy Aging Tips from the “Father of Aerobics” [Podcast Series]

[:55] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Dr. Kenneth Cooper

Dr. Kenneth Cooper is the “Father of Aerobics.”
He is the Founder of The Cooper Institute and Founder and Chairman at the Cooper Aerobics Center.

[1:09] Getting the whole family moving

“When we're growing up, my wife and I would run on Sunday afternoons with Berkley and Tyler, run through the neighborhood. We were famous in the neighborhood for the family that run together. I used to say the family runs together stays together. And we've done that after all these years.”

[4:00] Debunking fitness myths

“And primary care is secondary care. We practice primary care. Our goal is to keep you healthy. And we've been able to show this fascinating note that you can grow healthier as you grow older, not necessarily the reverse. That's one of those myths that we had.”

[15:25] Training healthcare providers to talk to patients about movement

“So I'm working hard to get these to physicians and to give this to medical schools to try to bridge that gap between a lack of knowledge.”

[19:24] Career successes

“I'm still working out regularly. I do exercise, you asked about that. I had to stop jogging in 2004. But I didn't stop exercising because again, fitness is a journey not a destination to keep up the rest of your life.”

[23:42] Moving to live longer, live better

“I've had hundreds of letters from people telling me I wish I'd known 20 years ago how much better I could feel. But once I got in shape and followed your recommendations, I felt the best I've ever felt in my life. Do you want to enjoy that type of life you're now maximizing your feelings and feeling good, you're not depressed, you're enthusiastic.”

[30:10] Healthy aging tips
- “If you have the time not to exercise, then make time to be sick.”
Dr. Cooper advocates the following aerobic-strength training balance:
- If you’re 40 years old or younger, devote 80 percent of your workout time to aerobic training and 20 percent to strength training.
- If you’re 41 to 50 years old, shift to 70 percent aerobic and 30 percent strength work.
- If you’re 51 to 60, do 60 percent aerobic exercise and 40 percent strength training.
- After you pass 60, divide your workout time more evenly between the two strategies – while still giving an edge to aerobic exercise, which provides the most health benefits: 55 percent aerobic work and 45 percent strength work.

Amy Bantham 3/19/24 Amy Bantham 3/19/24

Movement as a Foundation for Health Education [Podcast Series]

[:55] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Dr. Tyler Spencer

Dr. Tyler Spencer is the Founder and Executive Director at Grassroots Health.
He has a PhD in Public Health.

[1:08] Grassroots Health origin story

“So the origin story for me was having had this life changing experience as an athlete implementing sport for development programs in Sub Saharan Africa, and then coming home and realizing wow, there, there really needs to be a more significant and innovative response at home.”

[4:35] Physical activity as core to the curriculum

“Yes, physical activity is an absolute core component of every single element of the curriculum. And you're exactly right, physical activity for many students is a hook to be, to want to be involved, to have fun, to engage with the curriculum. Physical activity, I think probably for the audience of this podcast, is also a method for helping students retain the information. It's also helpful for keeping students focused throughout the school day, being able to move their bodies.”

[9:23] Incorporating fun and games

“And one of the really exciting things, I think, with a middle school student, this is probably a lot more possible than maybe with a high school student, is we created games that a lot of them are based on sports, but they're not called that sport. And they find ways to keep young people moving physically, without them tying some sort of stereotype where I'm not meant to be participating or competing in this way with my fellow students.”

[13:56] Collegiate athletes coaching middle school students

“What we're able to do is show a young student athlete that a lot of the skills that they have developed to get to where they are in academics and in sports, are translatable into something that has tremendous purpose and has the potential to impact a number of young people's lives. And that, for us, it's one of the most rewarding things to see when you see a college athlete come into the program…”

[18:33] Treating movement and health as a core topic

“What I would love to see in our country is and in our school systems across the country is really a focus on treating movement and health of a young person as just as important as those other topics.”

[25:45] A bottom-up and a top-down approach

“But at the same time, we get really frustrated now that we've done all this work and research around system level challenges, and what are the system level solutions? You know, we as an organization can implement solutions immediately, that helps schools to work around the existing systems challenges, you know, okay, if you only have an hour of time to do health and PE, let's find a way to do them both at the same time. So that's kind of like working within the structure.”

Amy Bantham 3/5/24 Amy Bantham 3/5/24

Motivating People to Move for Immediate Mental Health Benefits [Podcast Series]

[:55] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Dr. Karlie Intlekofer

Dr. Karlie Intlekofer is Co-Founder at Treo Wellness and Global Wellness Researcher at Matrix Fitness.
She has a Doctorate in Neuroscience and Behavior.

[1:12] Inspiration for studying neuroscience and behavior

“I wanted to pursue a career that blended my love for fitness and being active with my interest in how the body works. And so getting that doctorate helped me understand more about how sensitive the brain is to virtually everything we do. And then getting the postdoctoral work helped me publish more in that field, understand it at a deeper level, and even answer some questions about learning and memory and Alzheimer's and how those are impacted by a dedication to regular physical activity.”

[6:08] Studies linking exercise and brain health

“If someone right now is on the fence about getting a workout in, and they decide to work hard for 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, we now know that they're going to have a cognitive advantage for the rest of the day, you may have more clarity, they may have more patience with their spouse, or their children are at work, which I think patience is a great thing, you can never have too much. They may feel better in general, right before they go to sleep…”
“And I should mention for anyone who's interested in longevity, it’s like people talk about the fountain of youth. And it's like movement is so central to that you really can't live your best life in terms of well-being or brain function or any of the above in a body that is sedentary.”

[21:36] Messaging the brain health benefits of movement

“So I've seen a big change in the fitness industry. They've moved really far towards inclusiveness. They still have their own, these different brands have their own unique brand identities right? They have their different types of imaging or their target member. But I've seen a lot more operators be savvy about the phrasing and the words that they use. And that's important, because like I said, we all start with, if we have a dedication to exercise or moving more, we all start at a different point. And we have to really meet people where they are.”
“So what I've learned through kind of a blend of like, oh, consumer perception behavior along with the neuroscience part is that if we can make the positive outcome, if we can kind of guarantee that they're gonna feel better. That's a much easier lure than ‘stave off depression and dementia and cognitive decline.’ I mean, it just doesn't have the same motivational ring to it, of course, but that is, in fact, what my research and the research of others shows. And that is definitely motivating for me, you better believe it.”

Amy Bantham 2/20/24 Amy Bantham 2/20/24

Creating Athletes for Life with a Child-First Youth Sports System [Podcast Series]

[:55] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Tom Farrey

Tom Farrey is the Founder and Executive Director of the Sports & Society Program at The Aspen Institute.
He is also the author of Game On: The All-American Race to Make Champions of Our Children.

[1:10] Working at the intersection of sport and the public interest

“And that led to me wanting to solve the problems that were identified in the book. Specifically, how can we be the world's sports superpower while still only, we know, one out of every four or five kids are actually physically active enough. I mean, what was the disconnect with our system? So I had all of this knowledge, all of these insights around policies and sports structure and governance and parent matters, and physiology and on and on and on, and I was like, look, I got to do something with this, someone's got to build a better sport system.”

[4:25] Taking a child-first approach

“So we just have this environment now that is not, it's not child first. It's money first, and it is sports business. And so the, what we miss out on are creating experiences that are designed with the needs and the interests of children and youth first. That’s the fundamental problem that we're working with.”

[10:07] Identifying the gaps and the opportunities

“One of the roles that we play is giving foundations, corporations, policymakers, news media, other folks to simply understand where the gaps are and where the opportunities are to drive progress. Because there is a lot of good things happening in youth sport. There are communities that are, there are programs and communities that are figuring it out. And so part of our job is to use the tools, the principles of solutions journalism to critically think about emerging programs and promising solutions out there.”

[16:49] Defining success in sports programming

“I think it's fair to ask programs if they encourage equal playing time, certainly up through age 12. A program’s job is not to aggregate the best kids and package them up so they can win championships and feel good about them. That's not really success. Success is, is developing every kid in your care and getting them excited enough that they want to return the next year.”
“And then finally, does the program make efforts to foster physical literacy. We define physical literacy as the ability, confidence and desire to be active for life, with an emphasis on fundamental movement skills and not just sports specific skills. So, check to see if the program is teaching kids to learn to move well because that can open up access to dozens of sports.”

[22:57] Expanding the definition of sport

“Sport is more than just wearing a uniform and striving together in organized settings. It's making up games with your friend down at the park or in the driveway or surfing or golfing with friends. It's pickleball, it's all sorts of other activities.”