Importance of Physical Activity in Children Adapted from North Carolina Extension & Community Association: Making Family Connections ~~Outdoors

The NC Outdoor Learning Environments Alliance (NC OLE Alliance) is a group of concerned family and child agency representatives working together to encourage families to “PLAY OUTSIDE!”

What we know... We have always believed that it is healthy for children to play outdoors. An increasing body of research indicates HOW important outdoor play really is!

Myth or Fact?  Being outdoors cannot affect the obesity problem.   Pediatricians recommend no TV for children under age 2   The outdoors can help your relationship with your child   TV has led to some poor results for children and families

It is important for...  Health  Fitness  Attention/Focus  Emotional/Social development  Social skills  Language development  Nature/science knowledge  Complexity of play  Problem-solving skills and much more!

Why aren’t children going outside?  Safety concerns  Crime  Traffic  Rules, regulations, sanitation  Air quality – ozone days  Sun safety  Current conditions  Lack of high quality outdoor environments  Over-emphasis on academics  What do you think ? Write 3 other factors.

What are the consequences?  Decline in physical fitness  Rising childhood obesity rates, juvenile diabetes  Increase in attention issues  More allergies, asthma, respiratory illness  Children not learning to care for/appreciate the environment

Obesity is a concern for adults and children  Obesity is a critical health problem that has increased to serious effects on long term health.

Obesity is a concern for adults and children  Obesity is a critical health problem that has increased to serious effects on long term health.

Obesity Trends* Among U.S. Adults 1991, 1996, 2004 (*BMI 30, or about 30 lbs overweight for 5’4” person) No Data <10% 10%–14% 15%–19% 20%–24% ≥25% 2004 Obesity Trends* Among U.S. Adults 1991, 1996, 2004

So what?!  Obese children lead to obese adults  Sedentary activities  The strongest predictor of physical activity among children is time spent outdoors.

Children need 1 hour per day of vigorous activity. (U.S. Surgeon General) But… More than half of parents (54%) said that they had little or no time to spend engaged in physical activity with their children, but wish they had more time.

How much time is spent doing physical activity in elementary schools?  Recess is often just 15 minutes or less.  Physical education programs struggle in hard economic times to find financial support.  Physical education participation declines as children enter upper grades.

Research tells us....  Children who are exposed to natural environments attend better for longer periods of time.  Exposure to nature and natural settings improves attention span.

Another consequence…  Attention and behavior problems are being increasingly reported by teachers and parents.

Research tells us....  Exposure to nature and natural settings decreases impulsivity in children.  Exposure to nature and natural settings decreases challenging behaviors in young children.

Research tells us....  The outdoors facilitates children's ability to expand their sense of wonder and connection to nature.

Outdoor play is Great to create family connections

Questions???  Though these are great points that show we need to increase physical activity for children.  We need to see specifics to support “ Research tells us.” “ Research tells us.”  Review information in this study by partnering with a fellow student. You will be assigned a topic to review: ensEnvLearning.htm ensEnvLearning.htm ensEnvLearning.htm