Promotion of Physical Activity in Youth

We have lots of ways of entertaining ourselves. From video games, TV, to social media, these forms of entertainment have shown to increase sedentary behavior and the group that is influenced the most is our youth. We will go over some systems that have worked or ideas that should be implemented to help increase physical activity in youth.

By: Jasmine Navarro

Guidelines for Physical Activity (PA)(CDC, 2022)

Children ages 6-17 should perform at least 60 minutes or more of moderate-to-vigorous PA
- Aerobic: Majority of the 60-minute daily recommended PA should be aerobic and performed at a vigorous intensity at least 3 days a week.
- Muscle-Strengthening: Should be included as part of their 60 minutes or more of daily PA at least 3 days a week.
- Bone-Strengthening: Should be included as part of their 60 minutes or more of daily PA at least 3 days a week.

Our Schools

Where do our kids spend a lot of their day? The answer is school. Schools lack the implementation of the requirements for physical activity. Sedentarism in schools consist of most of their day.

Schools for lower-income students lack PA strategies. Low-income families have less opportunity for PA due to limited access to parks and unsafe streets (Chang & Kim, 2017). While working on removing these limiters, we can start with schools.

All states require PA, however, many schools fail to implement these. Studies performed on Danish public schools showed that adopting consistent requirements for physical activity is when schools take interest in PA and share the decision-making process for PA with students (Koch et al., 2021).

Promotion for Children(CDC, 2022)

Make a daily physical activity routine
Start early! Build a foundation
Provide encouragement for starting new activities
Take them to places they can be active
- Public parks
- Community baseball fields
- Basketball courts
Set a positive example
- Stay active yourself
Be safe! Provide protective equipment needed for activities.

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, July 26). Youth physical activity guidelines. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved December 9, 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/physicalactivity/guidelines.htm

Chang, S. H., & Kim, K. (2017, August 29). A review of factors limiting physical activity among young children from low-income families. Journal of exercise rehabilitation. Retrieved December 9, 2022, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5667611/

11 ways to encourage your child to be physically active. HealthyChildren.org. (n.d.). Retrieved December 9, 2022, from https://www.healthychildren.org/English/healthy-living/fitness/Pages/Encouraging-Your-Child-to-be-Physically-Active.aspx

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, August 17). Making physical activity a part of a child's life. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved December 9, 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/adding-pa/activities-children.html#:~:text=Make%20physical%20activity%20part%20of,baseball%20fields%2C%20or%20basketball%20courts.