The ABC's of Getting Your Child Outside and Active

Reading, writing, arithmetic, and recess. One of these things is not like the others. Though kids get plenty of reading, writing, and arithmetic at school, it turns out many can't depend on recess any longer.

Pressure placed on schools to produce higher test scores often means cutting programs that are not graded -- like recess and PE. An estimated 40% of all elementary schools have cut recess or are in the process of doing so, says Rhonda L. Clements, president of the American Association of the Child's Right to Play (IPAUSA).

Worse still, the CDC reports that in 2005, only 54% of high school students attended PE class, and only 33% attended PE classes daily.

Yet the CDC says the number of overweight kids has tripled since 1980, putting kids at risk for early heart diseaseheart disease, high blood pressurehigh blood pressure, and diabetesdiabetes. Now more than ever, we need to encourage our kids to get out and get active. Nationwide, 16% of high school students are at risk for being overweight, while 13% are overweight.

'A' Is for Access to Temptation

Webster's defines activity as vigorous or energetic action -- in short, everything that gets the blood pumping, from rolling down a grassy hill to kicking through piles of fall leaves. Adults often think fitness means a formal plan, a membership, or special gear.

Instead, just getting kids moving is the key, experts say. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends routinely promoting physical activity, including unstructured play at home, in school, and in child care. The group also recommends limiting television and video game time to a maximum of two hours a day. According to the CDC, 37% of students watch television more than three hours per day on an average school day, and 21.1% of students play video or computer games or use a computer for something other than school for more than three hours per day on an average school day.

But many kids just aren't getting much physical activity. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, national surveys indicate that about 20% of children get two hours or less of physical activity a week. And most groups are unanimous on the prime culprit: sedentary entertainment, meaning the temptations of the TV, computer, and video games.

The first step toward fitter kids is to reduce your child's TV and computer time by setting reasonable limits, says Rallie McAllister, MD, author of Healthy Lunchbox: The Working Mom's Guide to Keeping You and Your Kids Trim, and a family practitioner in Kingsport, Tenn. Help your child budget their TV time at the beginning of the week, selecting the programs they most want to see. Investing in a device that automatically turns off electronics after an allotted time is also a good idea. This way "the device is the bad guy and the parent is not," says McAllister.