1. The Physical Activity Guidelines for Children and Adolescents
The Role of Schools, Families, and Communities in Promoting Youth Physical Activity
NARRATIVE:
Today I am going to introduce you to the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Children and Adolescents and discuss how schools, families, and communities can help promote youth physical activity.
NOTE TO FACILITATOR:
Insert your name, school district, the name of your organization or group you represent, and the date of presentation in the text box. You can also remove this text box.
Your Name
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2. Presentation Objectives
Identify the benefits of regular physical activity among youth
Describe the key physical activity guidelines for children and adolescents
Describe the roles of schools, families, and communities in promoting physical activity among children and adolescents
NARRATIVE:
By the end of this presentation you will be able to
Identify the benefits of regular physical activity among youth.
Describe the key physical activity guidelines for children and adolescents.
Describe the roles of schools, families, and communities in promoting the physical activity among children and adolescents.

3. A Day in the Life of Colin: A 7-Year-Old Child
Walks to and from school
Jumps rope and does gymnastics in physical education class
Plays on the playground during recess
Does homework
Watches television
Plays soccer with family
Plays video games
NARRATIVE:
Before we start talking about the Physical Activity Guidelines, I would like to introduce you to Colin.
Colin is a 7-year-old child.
He participates in many types of activities in many places.
The following activities describe a day in the life of Colin
He walks to and from school almost every day.
During his physical education class, he jumps rope and does gymnastics and sit-ups.
During recess, he plays on the playground which involves running and climbing.
After school, he watches his favorite television show, does homework and eats dinner
After dinner he plays soccer with his family.
At night, he finishes homework plays video games.
Some of these activities are physical activities while others are sedentary activities.
In order to better understand how these activities are different from one another, let’s talk about what physical activity is, and why it is important for children and adolescents.
NOTE TO FACILITATOR:
You may change the child’s name and/or activities (replace with similar level of physical activity) that are familiar and appropriate for your audience.

4. What Are the Benefits of Physical Activity?
Promotes health and fitness
Builds healthy bones and muscles1
Reduces the risk of developing obesity and risk factors for diseases such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease1
Reduces the symptoms of anxiety and depression1
Can positively affect concentration, memory, and classroom behavior2
NARRATIVE:
Physical activity is a bodily movement that uses energy to contract muscles. (NOTE TO FACILITATOR: Provide a visual demonstration to the audience by moving your arms or legs.)
NARRATIVE, CONTINUED:
Physical activity can be structured, like playing on a basketball team, or unstructured, like playing tag outside or riding bikes. Physical activity can also be part of everyday activities such as taking the dog for a walk or sweeping the floor.
There are many health benefits associated with regular physical activity.
Physically active youth have higher levels of cardiovascular fitness compared with youth who are inactive.
Physical activity helps to build and maintain stronger bones and muscles.
Many of the risk factors for chronic diseases, including heart disease, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes, begin to develop early in life.
Regular physical activity reduces the risk of developing these risk factors and of becoming obese.
Regular physical activity also reduces the symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Research shows that physical activity among adolescents can positively affect their concentration, memory and classroom behavior.
Establishing regular physical activity early in life makes it more likely that children will remain healthy as adults.
1. HHS. Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee Report;2008
2. J Pediatr 2005;146(6):732–7.

5. How Much Physical Activity Do Youth Need?
Children and adolescents should do 60 minutes (1 hour) or more of physical activity daily.
Aerobic Activities: Most of the 60 or more minutes per day should be either moderate- or vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity. Include vigorous-intensity physical activity at least 3 days per week.
Muscle-strengthening Activities: Include muscle-strengthening physical activity on at least 3 days of the week, as part of the 60 or more minutes.
Bone-strengthening Activities: Include bone-strengthening physical activity on at least 3 days of the week, as part of the 60 or more minutes.
Activities should be age-appropriate, enjoyable, and offer variety.
NARRATIVE:
In 2008, the federal government published the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans to provide information and guidance to policymakers, health professionals, and members of the public on the types and amounts of physical activity that provide substantial health benefits.
These are the first physical activity guidelines ever to be published by the federal government.
The guidelines are science-based recommendations for persons aged 6 and older, including children and adolescents aged 6–17.
The Physical Activity Guidelines for Children and Adolescents state that
Children and adolescents should do 1 hour (60 minutes) or more of physical activity per day.
The guidelines state that the physical activity should at least be of moderate-intensity, and include vigorous-intensity activities at least 3 days per week.
Muscle-strengthening and bone-strengthening activities should each be included at least 3 days a week, as part of the 60 minutes of daily physical activity.
Each of these types of physical activity offer important health benefits.
At first glance, these guidelines might appear complicated. However, keep in mind the following two key points:
Vigorous, muscle-strengthening, and bone-strengthening activities should be part of the 60 minutes of daily physical activity
2) Many physical activities combine vigorous activity, muscle-strengthening, and bone-strengthening. For example, jumping rope is both vigorous and bone-strengthening.
The guidelines also emphasize the importance of participating in a variety of activities that are age-appropriate and enjoyable.

6. What Does This Really Mean?
At least 60 minutes every day
Mostly aerobic
Add variety and fun
NARRATIVE:
So what does all of this actually mean?
The key points to remember are that children and adolescents should do at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day.
Most of 60 minutes should be spent doing aerobic activities
It is very important that children and adolescents participate in a variety of activities, especially activities that they enjoy.
This enhances skill development, reduces the risk of overuse injuries and increases the likelihood of continuing to be active as they get older.
It is also important to know that the Guidelines take into consideration the natural activity patterns of children.
Children often move between short bursts of activity and short periods of rest.
All episodes of moderate- or vigorous-intensity activities count towards daily requirement and,
Unstructured active play can provide all 3 types of physical activity

7. Examples of Physical Activities for Children and Adolescents
Type of Physical Activity
Children
Adolescents
Moderate-intensity aerobic
Hiking, bike riding, brisk walking
Baseball, yard work, hiking, brisk walking
Vigorous-intensity aerobic
Bike riding, jumping rope, running, soccer, basketball
Jumping rope, bike riding, karate, basketball, cross-country skiing
Muscle-strengthening
Modified push-ups, sit-ups, rope or tree climbing
Exercises with hand-held weights, push-ups, pull-ups, climbing wall
Bone-strengthening
Jumping rope, running, hopping, skipping, gymnastics
Jumping rope, running, sports like gymnastics, basketball
NARRATIVE:
This table shows 3 types of physical activity outlined in the guidelines and gives examples of activities that are appropriate for children and adolescents.
Each of these types of physical activity offer important health benefits.
The first type of activity described in the guidelines is aerobic activity.
Aerobic activities keep your body moving enough to increase your heart rate and make you breathe harder.
The Guidelines distinguish between two types of aerobic activity;
moderate-intensity and vigorous-intensity
It can sometimes be difficult to distinguish between moderate- and vigorous-intensity activities.
As a rule of thumb, on a scale of 1 to 10, moderate-intensity activity is a 5 or 6. Young people doing moderate-intensity physical activity will notice their heart beating faster than normal and will be breathing harder than normal. Examples of moderate-intensity aerobic activities include hiking, bike riding, and brisk walking.
Vigorous-intensity activity is a 7 or 8 out of 10. Young people doing vigorous-intensity activity will notice their heart beating much faster than normal and will be breathing much harder than normal. Examples of vigorous-intensity activities including bike riding, running, and playing soccer or basketball.
As you can see, the same activities, such as bike riding or walking, could be a moderate- or vigorous-intensity activity, depending upon the amount of energy the person is exerting.
The second type of physical activity outlined in the Guidelines are muscle-strengthening activities.
Muscle strengthening activities make muscles do more work than the usual activities of daily life.
Children can increase their muscle strength through unstructured activities that involve lifting or moving their own body weight.
Examples of muscle-strengthening activities from unstructured play include playing on playground equipment, climbing tress and playing tug-of-war.
Muscle-strengthening activities can also be structured activities like push-ups and pull-ups, or working with resistance bands or lifting weights.
The third type of activity outline in the Physical Activity Guidelines for Children and Adolescents are bone-strengthening activities.
Bone-strengthening activities produce a force on the bones that promotes bone growth and strength. This force is usually produced by an impact with the ground.
This is especially important for youth because the greatest gains in bone mass occur during the years just before and during puberty and the majority of peak bone mass is obtained by the end of adolescence.
Examples of bone-strengthening activities include jumping rope, hopping, skipping, running and sports like basketball, tennis, volleyball and gymnastics.

8. Meeting the Guidelines
Getting and Staying Active
NARRATIVE:
Now I am going to share some of the current data describing physical activity levels among children and adolescents, and show examples of youth who meet the Guidelines.

9. How Physically Active Are High School Students?
NARRATIVE:
CDC conducts a national survey that monitors health-risk behaviors among youth enrolled in public and private schools in grades 9-12.
Data from the 2007 survey shows that among high school students, 11% of females and 24% of males said that they were physically active at least 60 minutes per day.
With such a low proportion of high school students meeting the physical activity guidelines, it is clear that there is a need to help youth get and stay active.
NOTE TO FACILITATOR:
Customize this slide by adding results from your local or state YRBS (Youth Risk Behavior Survey). Go to for more information.
* Were physically active doing any kind of physical activity that increased their heart rate and made them breathe hard some of the time for a total of at least 60 minutes/day during the 7 days before the survey.
Source: National Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 2007.

10. How Much Do 9- to 13-Year-Olds Participate in Physical Activity?
Race/Ethnicity
Organized Activity
Free-Time Activity
Black, non-Hispanic
24%
75%
Hispanic
26%
White, non-Hispanic
47%
79%
Total
39%
77%
NARRATIVE:
National data on physical activity among younger age groups are presented in this table.
Among 9-13 year olds, only 39% said they participated in organized physical activity.
This finding indicates a great opportunity to identify ways to provide more organized activity for youth.
NOTE TO FACILIATOR:
Organized physical activity was considered participation in at least 1 organized activity during the last 7 days; free-time physical activity was 4 or more sessions in the last week.
Source: MMWR 2003;52(33):785–8.

11. Meeting the Guidelines
Youth Who Don’t Meet the Guidelines
Slowly increase activity in small steps
Participate in enjoyable activities
Youth Who Exceed the Guidelines
Maintain activity level
Vary the kinds of activities to reduce the risk of injury
Youth Who Meet the Guidelines
Continue being active on a daily basis
Work toward becoming more active
NARRATIVE:
As we have seen, youth vary in their physical activity participation.
Youth who do not currently meet the guidelines should slowly increase their activity in small steps by gradually increasing the number of days and the amount of time spent being active.
It is also important for youth to engage in activities that are enjoyable.
Both of these recommendations will help to decrease the risk of injury and increase the likelihood of participating in lifelong physical activity.
Youth who exceed the guidelines should maintain their activity level and vary the kinds of activities that they do in order to reduce the risk of an overuse injury.
Youth who meet the guidelines should continue being active on a daily basis and work towards becoming more active.
Evidence suggests that more than 60 minutes of physical activity every day may provide additional health benefits.

12. A Day in the Life of Colin
Walks to and from school (20 minutes)
Jumps rope and does gymnastics in physical education class (10 minutes each)
Plays on the playground during recess (10 minutes)
Does homework (20 minutes)
Watches television (30 minutes)
Plays soccer with family (20 minutes)
Plays video games (30 minutes)
Total physical activity time = 60 minutes
Vigorous-intensity aerobic activity: jumping rope
Bone-strengthening activities: jumping rope, gymnastics
Muscle-strengthening activities: gymnastics
NARRATIVE:
Now that we know about the different type of physical activity outlined in the guidelines, let revisit Colin, the 7-year-old child.
Colin walks to and from school, which takes a total of 20 minutes.
He jumps rope for 10 minutes, and he does gymnastics for another 10 minutes in his physical education class.
During recess, he plays actively on the playground for 10 minutes.
After school, he plays actively with his family for 20 minutes.
In total, Colin is active for 60 minutes.
The walking to school is moderate-intensity aerobic activity.
The jumping rope is both vigorous-intensity aerobic activity and bone-strengthening activity.
The gymnastics is bone-strengthening activity and muscle-strengthening activity.
Playing on the playground during recess is muscle strengthening, and
Playing soccer is a vigorous-intensity aerobic activity
Colin also watches television for 30 minutes and plays video games for 30 minutes for a total or 1 hour of ‘screen time’. This meets the recommendation for children, which is less than 2 hours per day of screen time.
This example illustrates how a child can meet and even exceed the Guidelines through multiple activities throughout the day. It also demonstrates how some activity can be meet the criteria for more than one type of activity.
NOTE TO FACILITATOR:
If you changed the child’s name in slide #3, enter that name on these slides, or create your own “Day in the Life of . . .” slides.

13. Barriers to Meeting the Guidelines
Personal
Attitude
Belief in ability to be physically active
Social
Influence of their peers
Parental support
Environmental
Safe locations to be active
Access to equipment
Financial costs of physical activities
Time
NARRATIVE:
There are many barriers that make it difficult for individuals to meet the physical activity Guidelines.
Young people may not believe that physical activity is important for a healthy lifestyle or feel that they have the ability to perform a physical activity.
Lack of support from family and friends can also prevent youth from meeting the guidelines.
Environmental factors that make it difficult to participate in physical activity include low availability of safe locations to be active and physical activity equipment, costs of physical activities, and time constraints.

14. YOUTH PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Despite the many barriers that prevent children and adolescents from being active, there are multiple opportunities for promoting youth physical activity.
Each of the sectors in this diagram plays an important role helping young people engage in physical activity.
Today, we are going to focus on the role of schools, families, and communities in promoting physical activity.
YOUTH PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

15. Youth Physical Activity
The Role of Schools
NARRATIVE:
Schools can play a unique role in promoting the Physical Activity Guidelines and can increase physical activity through a comprehensive physical activity program.

16. Comprehensive School-Based Physical Activity Program1
Components include:
Quality physical education
Daily recess period
Activity breaks throughout the day
Intramural sports
Interscholastic sports
Walk- and bike-to-school programs
Staff wellness and involvement
Family and community participation
NARRATIVE:
Schools can provide students with a range of opportunities for physical activity through a comprehensive physical activity program.
The cornerstone of a comprehensive physical activity program is quality physical education classes, which we will talk about in a few minutes.
A comprehensive physical activity program allows students to practice and apply skills that are taught during physical education.
Schools can promote physical activity outside of physical education through policy development, implementation, and accountability. These policies may be related to:
Recess, activity breaks, intramurals, interscholastic sports, and walk and bike to school programs.
Staff wellness and involvement also are important to a comprehensive physical activity program.
Staff wellness programs increase access to places for staff to be physically active and provide the opportunity for role modeling of healthy behaviors.
It is also important to include family and community participation in school-based physical activity. We will be discussing ways to do this later in the presentation.
1. National Association for Sport and Physical Education. Comprehensive School Physical Activity Programs Package; 2008.

17. What is Quality Physical Education?
Quality physical education provides:
Opportunity to learn
Meaningful content
Appropriate instruction
Enjoyable experience for all students
Meets the needs and interests of all students
Keeps students active for most of class time
Policy Recommendation: Schools should require daily physical education for students in kindergarten through grade 121
Elementary school = 150 minutes per week
Secondary schools= 225 minutes per week
NARRATIVE:
Quality physical education provides the unique opportunity for young people to acquire the knowledge and learn skills needed to establish and maintain physically active lifestyles.
This requires an adequate amount of teaching time, equipment, facilities, and highly qualified physical education teachers to provide developmentally appropriate instruction.
Quality physical education also provides students with meaningful content through curriculum and instruction that is based on physical education standards.
Curriculum and instruction should be sequential and provide students with a variety of opportunities to enhance physical, mental, social and emotional development.
Quality physical education requires appropriate instruction.
This means full inclusion of all students, including those with disabilities, maximum practice opportunities through well-designed lessons, and a variety of student assessment protocols such as student self-assessments and teacher observations, should be provided to enhance student learning.
Teachers may also want to include out of school assignments that foster learning, such as identifying physical activity opportunities in their community that are low- or no-cost.
Physical education should encourage students to believe that physical activity is important and enjoyable and meet the needs of all students.
Students should be active for more than 50% of class time.
It is import that schools have policies regarding the amount of physical education time students receive. The National Association for Sports and Physical Activity recommends that all students in kindergarten through grade 12 participate in daily physical education classes. Specifically, elementary school students should receive 150 minutes of physical education per week and high school students should receive 225 minutes of physical education per week.
NOTE TO FACILITATOR:
You may want to enter the state and/or school district requirement for minutes of physical education per week to compare with the recommendation on the slide.
1. National Association for Sports and Physical Education. Moving into the Future: National Standards for Physical Education, 2nd ed;2004.

18. Recess
Opportunity to participate in free-time physical activity and practice skills learned in physical education classes
Enhances cooperation and negotiation skills
Improves attentiveness, concentration, and time-on-task in the classroom
NARRATIVE:
A comprehensive school-based physical activity program includes recess periods.
Recess periods, especially in elementary schools, can help children accumulate a portion of their recommended 60 minutes of daily physical activity.
Recess provides an opportunity for students to practice the skills they learn in physical education classes as well as enhance cooperation and negotiation skills.
Recess has also been shown to improve attentiveness, concentration, and time-on-task in the classroom.
Recess should not, replace physical education or be used to meet time requirements set forth in physical education policies.
The National Association for Sport and Physical Education recommends that elementary schools provide all students with at least one 20 minute period of recess per school day.
Schools can try to enhance the amount of physical activity that students get during recess by providing students with space, facilities, equipment, and supplies that can make participation in activity appealing.
Schools can also provide organized physical activities such as four-square, active tag, and flag football for interested students.
NOTE TO FACILITATOR:
You may want to enter the school district or state requirement for the number of minutes of recess per day to compare with the recommendation on the slide.
Policy Recommendation: Schools should provide at least 20 minutes of recess per day, in addition to physical education classes1
1. National Association for Sport and Physical Education. Recess in Elementary Schools;2006.

19. Physical Activity Breaks
Independent of physical education and recess
Can enhance positive classroom behavior of students
Incorporates activity in the classroom as part of planned lessons
Physical Activity Break Ideas: Ask students to identify and act out action words from a story through physical activity or take a walk outside as part of a science class.
NARRATIVE:
Another strategy for increasing physical activity in schools is to incorporate activity in the classroom as part of planned lessons.
These activities have been shown to enhance positive classroom behavior.
There are several programs that are specifically designed to add physical activity to planned lessons including Take 10®, Brain Breaks, and Energizers.

20. Intramural Sports Can be offered before, during, and after school
Provide students with a choice in activities
Offer every student an equal opportunity to participate regardless of ability level
Incorporate lifetime physical activities like walking, running, hiking, swimming, tennis, dancing, and bicycling
NARRATIVE:
Intramurals offer another opportunity for students to engage in physical activity. These opportunities can be offered before, during and after-school.
Intramurals are open to all students regardless of ability level and students can be involved in planning and implementing the activities.
Intramurals should incorporate lifetime physical activities like walking, running, hiking, swimming, tennis, dancing, and bicycling.
NOTE TO FACILITATOR:
You may want to include the types of intramural sports that are offered locally in your school or district.

21. Interscholastic Sports
Help establish cooperative and competitive skills1
Help students learn sport-specific and performance-based skills
May be related to higher levels of overall physical activity2
Associated with improved mental health and reduction in some risky health behaviors3-4
NARRATIVE:
School sports programs provide structured time to accumulate minutes of physical activity.
Participating in sports helps students to establish cooperative and competitive skills, and learn sport-specific and performance-based skills.
Some evidence indicates that participation in sports is related to higher levels of participation in overall physical activity.
Additionally, participation in sports programs has been associated with improved mental health and a reduction in some risky health behaviors such as cigarette smoking, illegal drug use, and having sexual intercourse.
Although typically limited to students who are athletically gifted, interscholastic sports provide unique opportunities for applying skills (e.g., sport-specific movements) and behaviors (e.g., self-monitoring and management) taught in physical education.
1. National Association for Sports and Physical Education. Eight Domains of Coaching Competencies;2006.
2. Pediatr Exerc Sci 1998;10:378–86.
3. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2000;154:904–11.
4. The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. Research Digest 1997;2:1–12.

22. Walk- and Bicycle-to-School Programs
Activity Recommendation: Schools should participate in International Walk to School Week and support ongoing walk and bike to school programs.
Resources:
Safe Routes to Schools
Walking School Bus
KidsWalk Guide
NARRATIVE:
Schools can encourage physical activity by participating in International Walk to School Week in October and supporting ongoing walk and bike to school programs.
It is important to point out that some school districts may discourage walking or biking to school because of safety concerns such as busy streets to cross, crime, or gangs in the neighborhood.
Safe Routes to School programs focus on preventing injury while encouraging walking to school.
One of the activities that Safe Routes to School encourages is a walking school bus.
A walking school bus is a group of children walking to school together with one or more adults.
It can be as informal as two families taking turns walking their children to school, to having a specific meeting point, schedule of volunteers to lead the walk, and timetable for “picking-up” students along the route.
A variation on the walking school bus is a bicycle train, which is a group of children and adult leaders ride together to school.
Safe Routes to School has developed a guide to help adults start a walking school bus or bicycle train in their community.
The CDC has developed the KidsWalk Guide to help communities with develop and implement walk and bicycle to school programs. The guide provides users with a step-by-step checklist, implementation tools, safety tips, and ideas to make walking to school an active and exciting part of a child's day.
NOTES TO FACILITATOR:
You may want to add your own local resources for walk & bicycle to school programs, if available.

23. Youth Physical Activity
The Role of Families
NARRATIVE:
Families play an important role in providing age-appropriate opportunities for physical activity.
In doing so, they help lay the foundation for life-long, health-promoting physical activity.

24. Set a Positive Example Lead an active lifestyle yourself
Make family time an opportunity for physical activity
Take a walk together after dinner
Do housework or yard work together
Walk the dog together
Make use of low- or no-cost resources
Public parks
Community fields and courts
Recreation areas
Replace inactivity with activity whenever possible
Example: walk or bike to school instead of riding in a car
NARRATIVE:
Adults can set a positive example for their families by leading an active lifestyle themselves.
Parents and other adults can help to incorporate physical activity into their family’s daily routine.
Ideas include taking a walk together after dinner;
doing housework or yard work together;
and walking the dog together.
Families can also utilize local low or no cost facilities like public parks, community fields and courts and other recreation areas.
In general, replacing inactivity with activity whenever possible helps to increase physical activity.
For example, walking or biking to school instead of riding in a car.

25. Limit “Screen Time”
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends less than 2 hours of media time per day.
Television
Computer
Movies/DVDs
Video games
Turn commercial breaks into activity breaks
Turn off the television during mealtimes
Do not use screen time as a reward or punishment
NARRATIVE:
Families and other caregivers can help youth balance “screen time”, which is time spent watching TV, using the computer, movies/DVDs and video games.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends limiting children’s media time to two hours a day.
Other suggestions include:
Turning commercial breaks into activity breaks.
Do jumping jacks, pushups, crunches or run in place during commercial breaks.
Turning off the television during mealtime.
Not using ‘screen time’ as a reward or punishment for your child.

26. Encourage Physical Activity
Expose children to a variety of physical activities
Be positive about the physical activities in which your child decides to participate
Encourage children to talk about their experience with physical activity
Help your child get to and from practices and events
Give your child toys that promote physical activity
Encourage children to play outside instead of watching television or playing video games
Make special events physical activity events
Encourage your child to join a team or try a new physical activity with a friend.
NARRATIVE:
Parents can support their children being active by exposing them to a variety of activities including recreation, team sports and individual sports. This helps children to find activities that they enjoy and sets the foundation for life-long physical activity.
Parents should be positive about the activities in which their child decides to participate.
Encourage children to talk about how physical activity makes them feel and the fun they have when they are active.
Parents can help their children be active by taking them to and from practice and events.
Parents can give their children toys that promote physical activity such as balls, kites, and jump ropes.
Rather than watching television or playing video games, encourage kids to play outside games like tag, basketball or ride bicycles.
Birthday parties and other group functions can also be an opportunity to be active with friends; for example, holding a birthday party at a local park where youth can use playground equipment and open athletic fields

27. Partner With Your Child’s School
Learn about what physical activities are offered at your child’s school
Talk to the principal or write a letter to the district superintendent if you think that there should be more physical education at your child’s school
Encourage the school to implement a comprehensive physical activity program
Become a member of the school health advisory board
Help organize special events like walk-a-thons, dance-a-thons or bike-a-thons
Volunteer to help with afterschool sports teams
NARRATIVE:
Parents and other family members can help to promote physical activity at school by:
Learning about what physical activities are offered at your child’s school.
Talking to the principal or writing a letter to the district superintendent if you think that there should be more physical education at your child’s school.
Encourage the school to implement a comprehensive physical activity program which includes
Daily physical education class and a daily recess period
Other ways for families to promote physical activity at school include:
Becoming a member of the school health advisory board
Helping organize special events like walk-a-thons, dance-a-thons or bike-a-thons.
Volunteering to help with afterschool sports teams.

28. Youth Physical Activity
The Role of Communities
NARRATIVE:
Communities play an important role in promoting the Physical Activity Guidelines and influence whether regular physical activity is an easy choice for individuals to make.

29. How Communities Can Promote the Youth Physical Activity Guidelines
Community-wide campaigns
Enhance access to places to be physically active
Involve multiple sectors of the community
NARRATIVE:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified several effective, community-level strategies for promoting physical activity.
One strategy for physical activity promotion is through community-wide media campaigns that combine physical activity messaging with activities such as community health fairs.
Another way for communities to promote physical activity in youth is by improving access to places for people to be physically active.
In order to implement successful community level approaches to physical activity, it is important for various sectors of the community to collaborate with one another.
Let’s look at each of the strategies in more detail.

30. Community-Wide Campaigns
Include physical activity messages with activities
Health fairs
Walk/run events
Physical activity counseling
Distribute messages through television, newspapers, radio, and other media
Encourage local media to feature stories about young people who have made physical activity a priority
NARRATIVE:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention strongly recommends using community-wide messaging campaigns to help people to be active.
These campaigns utilize the media in order to get information into the community.
For example, local newspapers or radio stations can feature stories about young people who have been successful at making physical activity a priority in their life.

31. Lexington, Kentucky, and the VERB™ Campaign
Social marketing campaign promoted physical activity among “tweens” (youth aged 9–13 years)
Coalition of local health, education and community based agencies adapted the CDC’s VERB™ campaign for their community
NARRATIVE:
VERB™ It’s what you do was a national, multicultural, social marketing campaign coordinated by CDC.
Social marketing campaigns apply commercial marketing strategies to influence the voluntary behavior of target audiences to improve personal and social welfare.
VERB™ was primarily aimed at “tweens” (youth aged 9–13 year olds) and their parents.
In 2004 and 2005, the Lexington Fayette County Health Department lead a coalition of local health, education and community based agencies adapted and implement the CDC’s VERB™ campaign in their community.
The campaign combined paid advertising, marketing strategies, and partnerships with local businesses to reach tweens.
The health department created a VERB™ Summer Scorecard for tweens to track their physical activities and win prizes.
The health department also organized a variety of special events, including The Longest Day of Play, which had more than 950 participants, and the Grand Finale Event, which had more than 1000 participants.
An event planner recruited businesses to participate in the program by taking part in the special events, and donating prizes, and offering specials for tweens at participating scorecard activity locations. The scorecard program offered businesses an opportunity to attract customers to their venue while also helping to increase physical activity levels among local youth.
The campaign was able to increase physical activity opportunities for tweens, increase and strengthen community-wide partnerships, and helped businesses to reposition themselves within the community.
VERB became a household word in Lexington
The Lexington campaign helped to launch more than eight spin-off scorecard programs in several other Kentucky counties and also in Sarasota County, Florida

32. Improving Access to Places and Programs To Be Physically Active
Implement “complete streets” policies
Identify safe routes for walking and bicycling
Build new places for physical activity or turn an abandoned or vacant lot into a park, multipurpose court, or playground
Provide access to school gymnasiums, recreation fields, and playgrounds when school is not in session
NARRATIVE:
Another strategy that CDC recommends is for communities to improve access to places for people to be physically active.
Complete streets policies help to create a safe and complete transportation network for all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit passengers of all ages and abilities, as well as trucks, buses, and automobiles.
Policy elements include
Sidewalks.
Bike lanes or wide paved shoulders.
Curb cuts, traffic lights, and crossing signals to help slow cars down and allow pedestrians to safety cross streets.
Identifying and promoting safe routes for walking and bicycling to school and recreational facilities can help people become more active.
Another strategy is to build new places to be physically active or to turn an abandoned or vacant lot into a park, multipurpose court, or playground area.
Schools, communities, and local governments can work together provide access to school gymnasiums, recreation fields, and playgrounds when school is not in session.

33. Cross-Sector Collaboration
What Schools, Families, and Communities Can Do Together
NARRATIVE:
Successful approaches to increasing physical activity require the knowledge, skills and resources of multiple sectors.
NOTE TO FACILITATOR:
You may want to customize this slide by adding your school or school district’s name, and the name of your state, city, county, parish, etc.

34. Cross-Sector Collaboration
Parks and recreation departments—provide access
Law enforcement agencies— promote safety
Urban planners— design features
Transportation agencies— promote use, safety, and access
Architects—design and construction
NARRATIVE:
These are just some of the sectors within a community that play a role in promoting physical activity:
Parks and recreation departments can provide access to places for physical activity.
Law enforcement can promote a safe environment that encourages physical activity.
Urban planners can implement design principles to promote physical activity.
Transportation agencies can provide areas for safe walking and bicycling.
Architects can design and construct buildings to promote access to physical activity.

35. Working Together: Community Involvement In School-Based Physical Activity
Support school-based physical activity
Join the school health advisory council
Donate equipment or money or encourage staff to volunteer time
Support Safe Routes to School programs
Offer afterschool physical activity programs
NARRATIVE:
Members of the community can help support school-based physical activity in a variety of ways.
Community members can join the school health advisory committee.
Colleges, universities, hospitals, health departments, businesses, and community groups can support school-based physical activity programs by donating equipment, money, or encouraging staff to volunteer time to lead a physical activity program or event.
Community organizations can support and participate in Safe Routes to School programs that encourage children to safely walk and bike to school.
Community organizations can offer after-school physical activity programs at the school, or they can provide transportation to off-site physical activity programs

36. Working Together: Joint-Use Agreements
Share resources: athletic fields, playgrounds and fitness facilities with other community members
Open school facilities to provide physical activity programs to students, families, school staff, and community members
Seek funding from local businesses, community groups and health organizations for physical activity programs
NARRATIVE:
It is not always possible to build new places for physical activity. However, joint use agreements allow schools, communities and local governments to share resources such as facilities or land.
For example, schools can allow the public to utilize their athletic fields, playgrounds, and fitness facilities, after school hours and on weekends.
This increases the school’s capacity to provide physical activity opportunities for youth and other community members.
Community organizations can provide physical activity programs or workshops to students, families, school staff and other community members, using school facilities.
Local businesses, community groups and health organizations may be potential sources of funding for physical activity programs.

37. YOUTH PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
NARRATIVE:
Each of the sectors shown on this diagram has a role in promoting physical activity among children and adolescents.
No one sector can solely promote and improve youth physical activity.
Collaboration across sectors will likely have the most effective impact, through consistent messaging and multiple opportunities to engage youth in physical activity.
YOUTH PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

38. Questions? Be Active and Play, 60 minutes, every day!
Thank you!
Questions? Be Active and Play, 60 minutes, every day!
Information in this presentation is provided by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Division of Adolescent and School Health
NARRATIVE:
Are there any questions?
NOTE TO FACILITATOR:
After answering participant questions, distribute one copy of the appropriate fact sheet(s) to each participant.
Introduce and conduct the optional final activities.
Thank participants for attending and ask participants to complete and submit the feedback form for The Physical Activity Guidelines for Children and Adolescents presentation.