PressureForPerfection

The primary focus when raising children should be in raising happy, healthy adults who are socially adept and socially conscious. These attributes can often be learned and reinforced while participating in athletics. Part of raising healthy children is instilling in them the importance of physical activity and the enjoyment that can be found when it is part of a healthy lifestyle. At its basic level, involvement in athletics is a way to teach children the joy to be found in physical activity, how to work as a part of a team, how to problem solve, and how to help build confidence and self-worth.

Sadly, for many children success within athletics defines who they are and the value they place on themselves. If the primary focus on athletics is placed on winning, the usefulness of sports participation in developing a child’s identity is minimized as S/he learns to live life only to win and not to simply try one's best. A loss in sports may lead the child to believe S/he has no talents and in all areas of life is less deserving than the star athletes. To avoid this, it may be as simple as redefining what we view as a success. If success is participating at the best of one's ability rather than just winning at all costs, it may enhance the enjoyment of and participation in athletics.

The pressure for perfection and success in athletic has taken over the sports culture for all levels of athletes, beginning with the peewee sports on up to the professional level. Athletics and sport involvement should be a way of getting children active and helping them to see the importance of physical activity. This focus on winning often prevents children that need the physical activity the most from participating because they are not the best and will not necessarily lead the team to a win. Hence, what is the motivation for the less talented children to participate? They may attend every practice and try their best, but when it comes to a competition they are left on the proverbial bench.

For those who are even moderately successful or their parents feel they should be, it follows that they are required to participate in extra training and possibly use supplementation. At a very early age children are pushed into sports by their parents while coaches begin selecting their future superstars. Has anyone figured out the cost of pushing children into athletics if they do not want to be there? Also, what are the children's reasons for disliking the sport? Parents often need to realize that there child, although perfect in their eyes, may not be built to play or succeed at the sport the parent has chosen. Furthermore, if the child is allowed to choose the sport in which they participate, rather then having a future chosen for them, they may actually have a higher level of success and enjoyment.

The pressures placed on young athletes may eventually backfire on the overly ambitious parent. If children are training so many hours that they are no longer able to behave as children, they may eventually rebel and refuse to participate in any physical activity. This would be extremely detrimental to establishing a healthy lifestyle. If we are willing to do anything for the win, when does it end? When do we start taking the child's feelings into account? For certain, the cost of winning may cause health risks for both the child and the adults. This is especially the case with sports supplements are used to move the child's performance along.

The use of supplementation has infiltrated the entire culture and has become all too common. We are at a point in society that it is expected that athletes and non-athletes alike would and often do use any means necessary to achieve a win or to succeed. For some, it has even become hard to believe that great athletes succeed without supplementation. Lance Armstrong for example, has achieved the unthinkable in winning the Tour de France an unprecedented seven consecutive times. In addition to being one of the most recognized American cyclists and being phenomenally talented, he is also one of the most tested athletes of all time. However, to date he has yet to test positive. What does this say about our society and the beliefs we hold about hard work and training? Is it that unbelievable that an athlete can be at the top of his sport without the use of supplementation?

The use of supplements within the fitness industry has become a source of financial gain for the “fitness professional.” It is not uncommon for personal trainers to have quotas they must fill for supplement sales. The fitness professional is often trained by the supplement companies as to the benefits of using the products. It does not seem ethical to encourage the purchase of supplements as a result of education provided by the supplement company. While working at Gold’s Gym as a personal trainer I was asked to sell $500 in supplements during the first month of employment, if the quota was unmet I would be placed on probation. I only worked at that gym for three weeks before quitting as a result of ethical differences. However, in my short time there, I was told by another trainer that he was a nutritionist. When I asked him about his educational background, he informed me that he was trained by the supplement company. Upon this revelation I found myself wondering about the reliability of the information he was providing, when his only education was provided by the company for which he was selling supplements.

Technically, a nutritionist does not need to be licensed or trained at all. However I don’t think this is common knowledge. Most people are likely to believe that a nutritionist has some sort of a college education. I cannot ethically support the idea of misleading the general public. The public looks to fitness professionals to help them lead healthier lifestyles, and they are some of the first people pushing them into supplements! This is not a good situation.

I believe that supplementation is only necessary if something is lacking within a diet. For the most part, a typical diet can contains all the essential nutrients. Other supplementations, such as those for weight loss, are completely misleading. The claims that the supplements aid in weight loss and 100s of other things prey on those who feel they have lost all hope of achieving the thin model type body that is so coveted. What these companies fail to mention or do in the small print is that a healthy well balanced diet and exercise need to become part of the individual’s life if the weight loss is going to become permanent.

The pressure to become successful is based on external sources of information. This pressure is leading children and often times adults to go to extremes to obtain the life someone else has decided they should have. People are no longer looked at and embraced for their individuality, but rather looked at and reformed to fit the cookie cutter image of an athlete. Forcing children into a sport or supplementation may develop talents and keep them fit and thin so they meet the expectations of society based on appearance and winning. However, if athletics is not their chosen pursuit they become more like circus animals, performing upon demand and they lack the fundamental knowledge of who they truly are, other than an athlete. Children need to be allowed to be kids and to grow up with support in whatever their chosen pursuit may be rather than forced in a certain direction. They should be taught (and encouraged) to make their own decisions rather than become people pleasers who play a sport because it makes their parents
(and supplement companies) happy.