Facts on Kid's Health

1.	The average child gets less than 15 minutes of vigorous activity a day.
2.	The average U.S. child gets approximately 43 minutes of moderate physical activity a day.
3.	The average U.S. child spends 20% of his/her waking time watching TV.
4.	Obesity and superobesity are up 36% and 98%, respectively, in the past 20 years.
5.	The average child consumes at least 20 ounces of soda pop a day.
6.	The child of today is less fit and more fat than the child of the 60's.
7.	Thirty-six percent of the children get daily physical education; 36% get two or fewer days.
8.	Nine out of ten parents think their children are fit, when only one out of three are.
9.	At age 10, 45% of young people say they participate, or intend to participate, on a non-school team. Among 18-year-olds, the figure is 26%.
10.	Thirty percent of youths (10-19 years) have negative or neutral attitudes towards physical activity.
11.	In a typical physical education class, only 27% of actual physical education time is devoted to motor activity.
12.	The average heart rates in a typical 30-minute physical education class range between 90 and 129 beats per minute.
13.	The older girls get, the less likely they are to work out.
14.	Grade school students are 24% more active than high schoolers.
15.	Asian and Hispanic girls are notably less active than girls of other backgrounds, including African-Americans, Whites and girls of mixed heritage.
16.	Children exercise less as they get older, boys about 3% less each year; girls, 7.5%.
17.	The most popular physical education offerings for grades 7-9:

18.	The two biggest reasons kids participate in sport and exercise are fun and socialization.
19.	About 42% of middle school students consider themselves more fit than their peers. Sixteen percent rate themselves as not as good.
20.	Thirty-six percent of middle school students say that they think that kids who exercise do better in school, about one-third are not sure, and 28% disagree.
21.	Fifty-four percent of students claim that their physical education class is very important to them.
22.	About 50% of all students report that physical education class time should be increased in the middle school.

Family Exercise Ideas

Birthday Walk
Children love to do things with their parents. What better way, then, to celebrate your child's birthday than to go for a walk together! You may wish to try the following:

1. When your child is one year old, walk one kilometer (.624 miles) together. You may have to push your child in a stroller. If he or she can walk, you might have to do one-quarter kilometer in the morning, one-quarter kilometer at noon, one-quarter kilometer before dinner and one-quarter kilometer in the evening.
2. When your child is two years old, walk two kilometers together. Again, you may not want to go the entire two kilometers all at once.
3. When the child is three years old, walk three kilometers together.
4. Continue until your child is five or even until the age of 21.

In order to add some fun to the walk, bring a ball along and either kick or throw it. If you live in a cold climate, a nearby shopping mall is a great location for winter walking.

Christmas
Make a rule that there should be a small note attached to every gift given. This note should be read before the gift is opened. The note will describe an exercise that must be done by the person for whom the gift is intended. The exercises cannot be too difficult, although they may be unusual. For example: Gift for Dad, "Do five sit-ups with hands in pockets." Gift for Mom, "Lift Junior off the ground five times."

Easter
Organize an Easter Egg Hunt for several families in the neighborhood. Color the eggs first and number them from one to 100. Use as many eggs as you like, but we suggest two for every child. Do not allow the children to see where the eggs are being hidden. Hide the eggs in a large field, playground or school yard. Once the eggs are hidden, the children are brought to a starting line. On the signal, they search the field for eggs. Once they find an egg they return it to the designated area where their name and the number of the egg is recorded. Once a child finds two eggs, that child can help the other children find their eggs until everyone has found two of them.

Once all the eggs are found, you may want to give the children prizes such as coloring books, crayons, balloons, Frisbees®, puzzles or comic books (no chocolate or candy).

Halloween
Parents who are concerned about the amount of candy their children receive on Halloween might try this alternative. Design a flyer suggesting that families hand out alternatives to candy. This flyer could be distributed in the neighborhood or an article could appear in the local newspaper. Some suggestions for alternatives are:

crayons	line puzzles	pencils
cut outs	marbles	raisins
crossword puzzles	balls	sugarless gum
erasers	paintbrushes	toothbrushes
gift certificates	peanuts	word puzzles

Participating parents could place their garbage pail on the front lawn as a sign that they offer an alternative to "garbage," letting the children would then know to which houses they should go.

Mother's Day and Father's Day
Provide Mom or Dad with a list of clues as to where to find their gift. Actually, the gift will be at a neighbor’s home, and Mom or Dad will have to walk one or two miles before they can receive it. Clues may be hidden all over the neighborhood and the whole family will want to accompany Mom or Dad on their hunt. Examples:

1. Your next clue can be found where you meet the 7:05 bus (bus stop near home).
2. Your next clue can be found beside the neighbor's hound (beside the neighbor's dog house).

Television Time
If you are concerned about the amount of time your children watch television, try the following formula for limiting their TV time. Tell your children that time for watching TV must be earned. Here are a couple of sample rules you could establish:

1 hour of reading or studying = 1/2 hour TV
1 hour of active play = 1/2 hour TV

You may want to keep a tally sheet for each child, but be careful not to make other activities appear to be punishment. Instead, explain that there are a lot of fun things to do besides watching television that you would like them to enjoy.

Valentine's Day
Everyone associates the heart with Valentine's Day. How about doing something that will strengthen the heart and improve cardiovascular fitness? Challenge your family to a "hearty" Valentine's Day. Between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., family members should try to obtain as many heart points as possible. Select a Saturday or Sunday close to Valentine's Day, or disallow activity during Mom and Dad's working hours.

Walking	1 point for every 15 minutes
Jogging	1 point for every 10 minutes
Cycling	1 point for every 15 minutes
Swimming	1 point for every 10 minutes
Skipping	1 point for every 10 minutes

You may wish to give the younger children a handicap and make it harder for teens. For example:

Children 5 - 7	multiply the total score by 2
Children 8 - 10	multiply the total score by 1.5
Children 11 - 17	multiply the total score by .75
Ages 18 and up	multiply the total score by 1

The winner at the end of the day receives a token prize such as new shoelaces for their running shoes.

Parental Support of Child's Physical Education Program
How do you know if your school is doing a good job teaching physical education? Ask yourself these questions to see how it shapes up.

Level of Participation Low-High
1	2	3	1.	Does your school provide at least one period per day of vigorous exercise (heart rates above 160 beats per minute) that lasts at least 20 minutes?
1	2	3	2.	Does your school offer at least 75% of physical education instruction in lifetime activities such as walking, running, swimming, bicycling, aerobics, tennis, badminton, skiing, weight training, stretching and the how and why of fitness?
1	2	3	3.	Does your school provide tests to determine children who are unfit - lack flexibility, strength and cardiovascular endurance? The testing should take up no more than one week of the school year.
1	2	3	4.	Does your school provide physical activity opportunities for the obese, unfit and unskilled?
1	2	3	5.	Does your school provide physical education programs for the mentally and physically handicapped?
1	2	3	6.	Does your school have a prescribed source of study for physical education that the teachers are required to follow? Is their delivery monitored?
1	2	3	7.	Does your school's physical education program emphasize fun, participation and relevance (fitness and motor skills), rather than sport skill development and competition?
1	2	3	8.	Does your school put physical education first and athletics second?
1	2	3	9.	Do your physical education teachers look fit and participate in personal fitness programs?
1	2	3	10.	Do your children enjoy, speak highly of and look forward to physical education?
1	2	3	11.	Does your school not threaten to drop physical education when budget cuts are considered?
1	2	3	12.	Does your school integrate physical education concepts with classroom concepts?

Fitness and Nutrition Tips for Families

Children and the Food Pyramid