Feb

15

Relearning to Play Now Vital to Preventing Childhood Obesity - San Leandro Times- Topic: Childhood Obesity News

Filed Under Childhood Obesity News | Leave a Comment

Most of us remember as children the thrill of summer breaks, warm evenings filled with nonstop play and refusing our parents’ calls to come home if we were in a heated game of dodge ball. Unfortunately, physical play has given way to sedentary lifestyles and poor diets in our children, with the number of overweight and obese youngsters doubling in one generation, and continuing to rise. Besides the explosion of technology cutting down the incentives for children to be physically active, the big barrier to playing outside is safety in our modern world. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, daily participation in physical education programs among adolescents has dropped from 42 percent in 1991 to 33 percent in 2005. Rather than buying them the latest electronic gadgets or enrolling them in too many extracurricular programs, let the children play outside everyday; give them a ball and let them come up with their own games. Read Childhood Obesity

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