A sedentary child means a sedentary youth, a sedentary adult and a sedentary elderly person

BY JOAQUIN ORAMAS

DR. Santiago Valdés Martín, a prominent professor of pediatrics in Havana, believes the proposal to live longer with quality of life is based on concepts that are valid by nature, given that experience and research have shown that today’s human being is capable of reaching 120 or more.

And reaffirming that thesis, he reports that in Cuba there are more than 2,000 people over 100 years old, which means that they have lived longer without scientific findings or the indispensable information for people to do what is necessary for reaching or surpassing the age of 100. It must be taken into account that they, and thousands more who are close to reaching 100, were born at the beginning of the last century – or in the cases of the oldest, during the 19th century.

However, without any developments in the science of preventive medicine, not to mention scientific advances in technique and equipment, or current medicines, they have passed through the entire 20th century.

Well, it’s logical that humans can live to more than 120, if we are capable of understanding and conceiving that as such, notes Dr. Valdés, who emphasizes that it is not a matter of just living that number of years, but of quality of life. That means living with mental clarity, engaging in appropriate activities, and coping with things normally.

And he reiterates what is now firmly believed by scientists: that measures and precautions for reaching such a goal should begin during the pre-conception stage. Or rather, beginning with the formation of the embryo and during the pregnancy, a fundamental time for the mother, father and entire family to begin adopting precautions in general. These range from hygiene to the environment, among others, to ensure the appropriate development of the fetus and the newborn baby. If during pregnancy the mother does not receive adequate nutrition, if she and the father do not observe proper hygiene, if they smoke or have other bad habits, they are establishing genetic factors that may determine a possible evolution toward ills that will affect the life of their child when s/he reaches adulthood, Dr. Valdés says.

Among precautions, which should be taken, he insists that aspirants avoid low birth weight, given the serious problems that that can arise during infancy or later in life. Children in that situation are susceptible to developing arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease and chronic kidney problems.

The latter occurs because a low-birth weight baby’s kidneys are smaller and have fewer nephrons, the kidney’s basic functional units.

He refers especially to childhood, when the child leaves the first perinatal stage, when vaccines are important to preventing disease (in Cuba, children receive 14 vaccines), as is quality of life through physical activity, recreation and appropriate social interaction.

He insists on the necessity for physical exercise beginning in the earliest years, which parents sometimes forget.

Dr. Valdés advises fighting against the child being sedentary; otherwise, s/he will be sedentary as an adult and as an older adult.

Television and videos – especially video games – are a problem in modern life, because they make children dependent on that supposed entertainment. Many times, a family may not be aware of the damage they are causing by stimulating what turns into a sort of slavery to the VCR or the TV, keeping children indoors all day and preventing them from growing in the fresh air with an active life.

One of the problems that the doctor urges people to combat beginning in the early years is sendentariness. And that may be achieved by getting children used to physical activities, sports and above all, recreation. He recommends that children are not enclosed in a family environment that brings as a consequence the existence of patterns that will later keep them from becoming adults with greater possibilities of development.

He agrees with a popular saying that "You only live once." That’s true, but it’s also a great truth that one may live longer under better conditions, and even reach the age of 120 or more. Science and experience have shown it to be so, he affirms.