Promoting Physical Activity in Afterschool Programs (original) (raw)

2010, Afterschool Matters

Children in the United States are not engaging in sufficient amounts of routine physical activity, and this lack is an emerging public health concern (Strong, Malina, Blimkie, Daniels, Dishman, Gutin, et al., 2005). Efforts to increase the physical activity levels of children and adolescents has become a national priority, attracting attention from professionals in medicine, public health, education, recreation, economics, and health promotion (Pate, et al., 2006). In an effort to promote physical activity among all Americans, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS, 2008) created evidencebased (Strong, et al., 2005) physical activity guidelines. They recommend that children engage daily in 60 minutes or more of developmentally appropriate, enjoyable physical activities that are moderate to vigorous in intensity. Nationally, youth are not meeting these guidelines. Of particular concern are the low physical activity levels among underserved youth in, for example, rural, minority, and low-income communities (Adams, 2006; Hortz,