Kids Can Play Their Way to Health

news you may not know

Sure, You Can Swing Into Shape...

You want to set the right example for your kids, right? Of course. Why else would you limit yourself to a single serving of apple pie? (No sense in counting the ice cream) And, when it comes to exercise, you're absolutely on top of it... It was just yesterday - well, maybe it was just last week or, surely, just last...

OK - so exemplary behavior hasn't been your strong suit as of late. Not to worry. It's never too late to change. And the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) wants to help.

HHS issued new guidelines recently, similar to the Food Pyramid guidelines, which detail their recommendations for exercise. For adults it's really quite doable. Thirty minutes of moderate exercise each day, five days per week. A piece of cake - sorry, the cake reference was inadvertent.

For kids the recommendations are not only doable, but actually quite sensible and natural. HHS says kids need to play for one hour each and every day. No, they don't mean play computer games. They mean real games where they run around and climb on things, and chase each other around. Games where they work up a good sweat by, you know, just being kids.

It's really quite amazing - a set of government guidelines that encourages kids to be kids. Just because it's good for them.

So go ahead. Take your kids to the park and let them play around for a while. And, yes - set a good example by jumping in there yourself. Think you can keep up? Well, good luck with that...

To read more about the study, see this from Reuters. To read the new guidelines, see this from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.