MAY 2015
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60 Minutes of Play Every Day
It’s good for you when you get out and play.
National health leaders remind us just how good it is
during May — National
Physical Fitness and Sports Month. Physical activity helps maintain a
healthy weight. It can reduce the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and
some cancers. It also strengthens muscles and bones. Physical activity can
improve mental health.[1]
Still, Alaskans of all ages aren’t getting enough of it.
Only one out of five Alaska high school students
reported getting 60 minutes of daily physical activity during the past week;
sixty minutes is the national recommendation for daily physical activity for
youth.[2,3] Most Alaska high school students (84%) also reported that
they did not attend daily gym class during the average week.[3]
Almost half of Alaska adults don’t get the recommended
amount of daily physical activity.[4] The national recommendation for
adults is at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week.[5]
The Section of Chronic Disease Prevention and Health
Promotion’s Obesity
Prevention and Control Program started a public education campaign three
years ago to make it easier for kids to be physically active, and to motivate
their families to be active together. The Play Every
Day campaign creates public service announcements for TV, radio, the Internet
and other media to encourage Alaska families and young children to be physically
active — to get out and play — at least 60
minutes every day.
The Alaska Division of Public Health’s sections of Chronic Disease
Prevention and Health Promotion and Women’s, Children’s,
and Family Health worked together this spring to film a new Play Every Day
public service announcement focused on the importance of daily physical
activity for children of all abilities. The new 30-second TV PSA features
Alaska children who get out and play in many different ways: running, doing gymnastics,
going for a walk, biking, kicking soccer balls, Native dancing, performing the
Alaska Native high kick, sit-skiing, and jumping in puddles. The TV spot is now posted
online and
features children with special health care needs.
“All children, regardless of their ability or
disability, benefit from physical activity,” said Amanda Cooper, the Health and
Disability Program Manager with the Section of Women’s, Children’s and
Family Health. “The Play Every Day campaign is the perfect avenue to encourage
children of all abilities to get out and play.”
Play Every Day also partners with a nonprofit
organization called the Alaska Sports
Hall of Fame to run the free, fun Healthy Futures Physical Activity
Challenge in Alaska elementary schools. Since the partnership began,
participation in the Healthy Future
Challenge has jumped significantly, from 36 schools in spring 2011 to almost
170 schools this spring. The number of participating students jumped from about
1,340 in 2011 to more than 18,500 in 2014. That’s about one in four
elementary-age children in Alaska now logging their physical activity during
the Challenge.
Visit Play Every
Day to learn more about the public education campaign focused on preventing
and reducing childhood obesity in Alaska through promoting daily physical
activity and good nutrition. Visit Healthy
Futures to learn more about the organization and to find out which
elementary schools are signed up for the Healthy Futures Physical Activity
Challenge. This month, schools will sign up for the next Healthy Futures
Challenge, which will begin in September 2015. Parents can contact their
child’s school to let them know about the Challenge and that it’s free for
schools to sign up and free for students to participate.
Sources:
-
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Physical Activity and Health: The
Benefits of Physical Activity.”
- U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “How
much physical activity do children need?”
- Alaska Department of Health and Social Services.
Alaska Youth Risk Behavior Survey 2013 Highlights.
- Alaska Department of Health and Social Services.
Alaska Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Highlights 2013.
- U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “How
much physical activity do adults need?”
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