By Rajah Maples
Friday, October 23, 2009 at 7:50 p.m.
Read more: Local, Roller Skating, Scotties, Skateland, Quincy, Popular
QUINCY, IL -- You've heard countless stories about high obesity rates in children and their sedentary lifestyles.
This next story shows you the other side of those reports, and it might even bring back memories of your childhood.
October is National Roller Skating Month.
KHQA's Rajah Maples headed to Scotties Skateland to find out if kids are still roller skating these days and how a favorite American past-time competes with some of the more sedentary activities, such as video games and the Internet.
Jeff Scott serves as General Manager for Scotties Skateland just outside of Quincy.The rink has operated in the Tri-States since the 1930's, which begs the question -- are kids still interested in roller skating?
Scott said, "Yes, it seems over the last couple of years, we've had an influx of kids who have taken up roller skating as well as families."
In fact, Scott says attendance has been up during the last couple of years.
"We do a lot of school parties, birthday packages," he said. "We're getting ready to do an adult-only night. We do roller hockey. About everything out there on roller skates, we try to incorporate."
And little do these kids know that they're burning 3- to 400 calories an hour. A University of Massachusetts study suggests skating causes less than 50 percent of the impact shock to joints compared to running. And media exposure doesn't hurt either.
Scott said, "We've seen roller skating in a lot more commercials as well we music videos, so roller skating is still out there."
Skating primarily works the glutes, quadriceps and hamstrings. The activity also requires a strong core to maintain balance, speed and agility.
The San Antonio Express-News reports this month's release of Drew Barrymore's new movie Whip It, about a women's roller-derby team in Austin, could inspire even more adults and kids to hit the rink.
