Research launched earlier this month suggested a connection between lack of co-ordiantion and sporting ability among children and obesity in later life - an interesting topic given the backdrop of the Olympics. One interpretation was that children who weren't good at sports didn't exercise enough and set themselves on the slippery slope to obesity later in life. Those of us with adolescent couch potatoes among our offspring will know that persuading a teenager to take any exercise can be a bit of a challenge. The sensible response however to these findings is to point out that obesity has a complex range of causes and lack of sporting flair is only one of many.
However, a thought has crossed my mind in recent years, once again in response to my own children's development. My son was fanatical about football in his junior school but when he went to secondary school and didn't make it into the football team he became disillusioned and lost all interest. It seems to me that if schools are going to encourage more children to take part in sport they need to balance the competitive element by offering chances for kids of all ability to play in a team. As we all know, playing sport is not just a way of developing athleticism but also of developing team skills and self esteem - attributes that you need in spades in the world of grown up employment.
The Olympics is great for encouraging people to strive for world class sporting skills, but we should also look for ways to encourage those of us with more modest sporting ability to join in - especially teenagers.