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I have no idea where the statistics in that article came from. I worked in daycares in Illinois and kids played outside every day except when weather did not permit it (the rule was if the temp was below 20 degrees, we could not take them out). In the centers I worked in on days when we could not go out, kids went to a gym area inside as well.
In the YMCA daycare, kids had gym twice a week, swimming twice a week and outdoor play as well.
I can believe this. And it gets even worse once they are in school. When my kids were in the public schools, they got very little physical activity. At one school, they received no physical education class and only a 20 minute recess and 30 minute lunch a day. Not much time for any significant activity on an over-crowded playground. At the other public school they attended, they got physical education 2 - 3 times per week for 45 minutes (better but still not enough), a 15 minute recess and a 30 minute lunch. I must say, after putting them in private school, things got better, with a physical education class everyday for 30 - 45 minutes, a 20 minute recess and 30 minute lunch, plus frequent outdoor education field trips, including ice skating, skiing and hiking. Definitely more physical activity; definitely more injuries - nothing too serious yet!!!
I agree with nana, seems a bit odd. My kids go to a pre-school two mornings a week (8am-2pm), and they have two 40 minutes slot outside if it's not raining hard and over 40F. If not, there is a gym. Then the kids come home, and we usually go to a playground too, or run in the backyard with the dog.
It reminds me of the "Play 60" commercials during football games. I remember saying to by husband I found it strange that kids need to be encouraged to be active for 60 minutes a day, I think I'd be worried about ours if they were only active 60 minutes a day (but they are pre-schoolers, not teenagers).
guess it would depend on the definition of "vigorous activity".
Perhaps it is a regional thing. Our kids have outdoor recess every day unless it's below 0 degrees. Of course, recess is only 20 minutes, but at least it gets them moving. They also go outdoors a lot during phys ed. In the winter months they'll often cross-country ski or snowshoe along trails behind the school.
My toddler attends a daycare where they also go outside (twice a day in warm weather but only once a day during winter b/c of how long it takes to put their boots and snowsuits on).
We live in a very safe rural area. Perhaps schools in cities and less safe neighborhoods restrict outdoor recess because of safety concerns or lack of play space.
It's a big issue and it is spreading everywhere. When I visited my parents last summer I noticed how all the outdoor places we used to play like mad in and that used to be chock full of children, are now pretty much deserted.
I have no idea where the statistics in that article came from.
Please, please, nana - not this again. Not the "show me the studies" again. This IS about a study done systematically and methodically.
Never mind that you don't need to produce a study for each and every little argument you make. Well-reasoned, in-depth, logical arguments, built on correct extrapolations and sound observations can be as valid if not more so than a random empirical study that can only take so many variables into consideration. Then again, when so much anecdotal evidence surfaces, then there is certainly a fire somewhere producing the smoke.
For some social realities, there are simply no studies done and at everyone's fingertips; but just because no statistics are available on some specific issues doesn't mean the argument is invalid.
Children today are clearly more physically inactive than those of previous generations - despite more of them being enrolled in organized activities.
Physical activity is a daily thing - not an once-a-week organized affair.
When my kids were in preschool they had outdoor playtime and gymtime every day. Have things changed that much in the past 10-15 years?
They must have. My kids don't get even 10% of the running around, climbing and overall vigorous physical activity I had as a kid - and I was a non-athletic, book-ish child, pathetically trying to keep up with two neighbor boys. They seem to be getting some outdoors times in school but not much. My preschooler certainly not every day; as soon as the weather is a little unfriendly, they decide to keep them in.
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