In a first-ever report card evaluating the physical activity of our nation’s children, the final results are less than stellar.
The United States Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth was released April 29 at a Congressional Fitness Caucus briefing on Capitol Hill and included several key indicators that were evaluated and graded through a collaboration led by the National Physical Activity Plan Alliance and the American College of Sports Medicine.
The report card looked at several areas that affect activity including sedentary behaviors, organized sport participation, active play, health-related fitness, transportation and others, but overall gave the physical activity of kids a D-.
Joe Eisenmann, assistant professor of sports and cardiovascular nutrition in Michigan State University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, served on the committee that commissioned the report.
“The goal of the report is to provide the nation with a sense of where our kids stand in relation to physical activity,” said Eisenmann. “The results show that our kids aren’t meeting the levels required to maintain good health.”
Eisenmann added that the report is a good start in addressing the issues surrounding physical activity, but indicated that much more needs to be done on a social, environmental, political and personal level.
“There are a lot of complex issues that affect the physical activity level of children which all need to be addressed,” he said. “In the end, this is about the health of the children and finding ways to keep them healthy.”
The full report, along with additional details of the project, can be found at www.physicalactivityplan.org.