The Lehigh Valley Mall replaced its spiraling ramp between floors with an elevator. It's the only way to get from floor to floor for moms and dads with baby carriages, but teen-agers probably use it the most. Inactivity is prevalent among people of all ages, race and incomes, some more so than others. American Heart Association studies show women are less physically active than men, blacks and Latinos less active than whites, older people less active than younger people, and the poor less active than the rich. The least active are black females, with almost 43 percent reporting no physical activity during leisure time in a 1992 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Study.
Adolescents are on the downward spiral.
The numbers of children ages 12-21 who are active and inactive are almost identical. Children of baby boomers are the least fit since statistics have been kept. From 1963 to 1980, the AHA documented a 54 percent increase in obesity among children ages 6 to 11 and a 39 percent increase for children ages 12 to 17. The problem in Allentown is even more frightening. The last figure I saw for the national situation is that 21 percent of adolescents are overweight.