Tag: childhood obesity awareness

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Playground Planning

Childhood Obesity & How to Avoid It

September is National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month! In truth, it’s common knowledge that America’s children are suffering from obesity at greater rates than ever before. Here at BYO Recreation, we deal with a wide variety of communities, from churches and schools to planned communities and public parks. Each of these communities approach us because they share a deep concern for the health and happiness of their children.

Childhood Obesity Avoidance Through Play

Playgrounds are a great way to combat childhood obesity in any community.

Installing a playground is a great first step to improving the overall health of your community members and fighting childhood obesity. However, there is even more that you can do. The best part is, you don’t need much more than the space you have and participants. Planning regular family-friendly events that center around a unique theme is a simple and great way to make even more use of your playground.

Timing is Everything

Plan your event for times of day when families are together and not likely to be attending other events. For instance, avoid planning a park day at your HOA playground that competes with church services. Your childhood obesity avoidance events should work in tandem with other events.

We recommend starting at 6pm on a weeknight and include a potluck cookout to cover dinner. You’re more likely to catch families who are on their way home. Or plan an early afternoon sack race on a Sunday to encourage the church crowd to swing by after services.

Mix It Up

Do not rely on one type of activity because people will quickly become bored. Instead, try switching between games of skill, like corn hole or horse that will attract older children and teens. Incorporate silly games like ‘Follow the Leader’ or ‘Simon Says’ that everyone can participate in but are easy for young children to succeed at.

Childhood Obesity Awareness Plans That Succeed

Make sure you advertise your event as much as possible, pass out flyers and hang up posters at local family hot-spots. Look for corporate sponsors to donate prizes and try to round up volunteers to keep things fair. Even silly games need a timekeeper and should you manage to get a prize donated, you’ll need a few extra referees to keep an eye on your Simon says participants. Providing fun games and playgrounds is an easy and effective way to combat childhood obesity in your community!

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Community & Park Spaces Playground Planning

How to Fight Childhood Obesity Through Play

According to the CDC, childhood obesity has more than doubled in the last 30 years while only about 29 percent of high school students exercise 60 minutes or more each day. As Americans turn more and more to indoor entertainment and recreation, children are paying the price.

Childhood Obesity Prevention Tips

Establishing healthy play and sleep habits during childhood have lifelong benefits, but require dedicated parents, teachers and communities. To celebrate American Heart Month, we’re focusing on fitness activities for all ages.

Spend More Time Outside

You can’t run inside! Parents are understandably reluctant to let children play unsupervised outdoors, but not making time to supervise outdoor play is not a solution. Schedule time to be outside as a family and don’t skip it! If you can’t make time daily to monitor outdoor play yourself, consider forming a playgroup with other parents in your community. Although having your child join a sports team has many benefits, it can’t  replace regular, unstructured free play. Making extra time for student athletes may even reduce the risk of repetitive motion and overuse injuries by strengthening the muscles they don’t use during practice.

Fight Childhood Obesity Through Healthy Play

It’s extremely tempting to sit back and answer emails while your child plays, but don’t be afraid to get the ball rolling yourself! Bring a ball, Frisbee or other toy and try to scout out parks with an active playground community ahead of time. To fight childhood obesity, start a game of catch, kickball or any active ball game to get the fun going! As a parent you can encourage your children to make the most of the play equipment. Challenge children to beat their best time on the monkey bars, or have a race across the fitness circuit. Once the kids are playing, feel free to take a step back and let them take over. 

Make Exercise a Priority

A mother and girl fighting childhood obesity through stretching
Regular stretching is a great way to fight childhood obesity.

Leading by example is the best way to encourage childhood obesity prevention. If you’re not in great shape be sure to talk your doctor and set realistic fitness goals for yourself before you cut loose on any exercise plan. Turn cleaning into a silly song and dance marathon, make yard work family time and plan  a simple evening walk together or other gentle exercises. These will not only get your family moving but will bring you closer together. Teach each other your favorite games like hopscotch and freeze tag and get playing. It takes about 10,000 hours to master any skill, so consider setting a big goal and working towards it together.  You could become hula hoop masters, learn to pop an ollie on a skateboard or make it your goal to master Double Dutch together.

Work with Other Caregivers

Want to include more fitness in your classroom or daycare? Whether you’re a teacher or parent, don’t be afraid to become a leader! Talk about ways you can help normalize physical activity. Regular breaks in learning that encourage movement help improve focus, retention and serve as a natural mood elevator.  Why not hop to the lunch room or take the scenic route to computer class? Adding a little more activity into daily routines can make a big difference. 

Get Enough Rest

It goes without saying that sleep is important to healthy growth and development, however, it’s not always a top priority. In recent years, a growing body of research has linked sleep deprivation to higher body mass. Unfortunately, children are almost as likely as adults to go without adequate sleep.  This may result in fatigue and lethargy, which may make it harder to get your kids off the couch. To help them get enough sleep, set and stick to a bedtime, create a healthy sleep routine and turn off television and computer screens at least an hour before bedtime.

Learn More About Childhood Obesity

Call one of our knowledgeable consultants at 800-853-5316 to learn about preventing childhood obesity through play!

Categories
Playground Planning

Great Ways to Participate in National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month!

Childhood obesity is an epidemic in the United States, with more than 23 million children ages two to 19 being obese or overweight. According to the CDC, obesity in children has more than doubled in children and tripled in the past 30 years. Also, nearly one third of American children are at early risk for Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and stroke.

Every September marks National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month (COAM). The mission of COAM is to motivate families and communities to become healthier. This goes hand-in-hand with BYO’s mission: to create play for children nationwide, regardless of budget. Every child should have access to playgrounds and play spaces that give them the opportunity to learn, grow, exercise, and be healthy.

The CDC states that overweight and obesity are the result of caloric imbalance. This means too few calories expended for the amount of calories consumed. As a result, children are affected by various genetic, behavioral and environmental factors. Additionally, “obesity prevalence was 13.9% among 2- to 5-year-olds and 18.4% among 6- to 11-year-olds.”

Childhood Obesity Resources

Kids running to the school playground to fight childhood obesity
Promote more play during childhood obesity awareness month.

Lifestyle changes can prevent and help reverse childhood obesity. Eating healthy meals and being physically active and fit as individuals, families and communities can have a big impact. Also, children need positive role models who can teach them about being healthy, not only through words but also actions. Moreover, Schools can make changes to support and encourage a healthy lifestyle. Start with physical education and recess and move towards a more nutritional lunch program.

Also, be sure to avoid these common mistakes:

  • Rewarding children with sweets
  • Implementing a clean-plate policy at meals
  • Taking the opposite extreme and banning all sweets
  • Labeling sweets as “bad food”

From KidsHealth.org,

The key to keeping kids of all ages at a healthy weight is taking a whole-family approach. Make healthy eating and exercise a family affair. Get your kids involved by letting them help you plan and prepare healthy meals. Take them along when you go grocery shopping. Teach them how to make good food choices.

Let’s Move Initiative

A great resource is Let’s Move, an initiative dedicated to solving the problem of obesity. It provides information about the issue, nutrition, physical activity and ways that everyone can take action and fight against childhood obesity.

At the 2010 launch of Let’s Move!, President Obama established a Task Force on Childhood Obesity, stating, ” we must accelerate implementation of successful strategies that will prevent and combat obesity…and [empower] parents and caregivers with the information and tools they need to make good choices for themselves and their families. They will help our children develop lifelong healthy habits, ensuring they reach their greatest potential toward building a healthier and more prosperous America.”  

Finally, throughout the month of September, we will be focusing on the childhood obesity issue and how to help reverse this epidemic! Visit our blog weekly and our Facebook page to learn more about the issue and what you can do to help!