Team Up to Improve Physical Activity in Schools- CDC resources

This message is being forwarded by the Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH), NCCDPHP, CDC, on behalf of the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity (DNPAO). Visit the DASH Web site at http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth and the DNPAO Web site at http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpao/index.html.

Subject: CDC Overweight and Obesity (Nutrition and Physical Activity) Update: Team Up to Improve Physical Activity in Schools

Did you know that being physically active is good for students’ health and academic performance? Studies have shown that school-based physical activity can help improve academic performance, such as grades, test scores and better concentration and attention in the classroom.

Youth ages 6 -17 need at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day. Most of the 60 minutes should be moderate or vigorous intensity, such as playing basketball, jumping rope, dancing, playing tag, walking, and running.

Parents, teachers, school principals and other school staff can team up to improve physical activity in schools in a variety of ways:

* Join a school health council, if one exists. If none exist, begin by working with the superintendent or principal to create a health council at the school or district level.

* Assess your school’s physical activity policies and practices through the School Health Index, an assessment and planning tool. Schools also can use this tool to improve physical activity policies and practices.

* Increase the amount of time students spend in physical education or increase the quality of the physical education class. See Strategies to Improve Quality Physical Education.

* Provide recess every day for at least 20 minutes for elementary school students.

* Incorporate physical activity breaks into the classroom.

* Participate in Walk to School Day and support ongoing walk and bike to school programs.

* Include more moderate to vigorous physical activity in afterschool programs.

More Information

Many tools and resources exist to help improve physical activity in schools:

* School Health Guidelines to Promote Healthy Eating and Physical Activity

* CDC Physical Activity

* Youth Physical Activity

* The Association Between School-Based Physical Activity, Including Physical Education, and Academic Performance

* CDC Podcast on Adolescents and Physical Activity

* CDC Physical Activity Guidelines Toolkit

* CDC Childhood Obesity

* The Physical Education Curriculum Analysis Tool (PECAT)

* Let’s Move!

* The National Physical Activity Plan

* CDC Overweight and Obesity Social Media Tools

Peaceful Playgrounds

Peaceful Playgrounds

Kids Say Stop Bullying It's Not Cool video

For more information on bullying go to: stopbullying.gov

Peaceful Playgrounds Information on Bullying Prevention

How teachers should respond to bullying.

Bullying Prevention: Is Empathy the Key?

Bullying & Harassment : What Schools Can Do

Bullying Prevention: Life Lessons on Good and Evil

Why Bullying Programs Succeed or Fail

Give your community the gift of play.

We were asked to pass on this information for Shane's Inspiration. They are a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of children with disabilities through building accessible playgrounds. They are conducting a contest which results in supporting 6 communitites in building accessible play spaces.

Parody: Wii Fit

Peaceful Playgrounds highlighted in NBC video on anti-bullying and obesity interventions

Retiring teacher leads effort to combat bullying and obesity by organizing playground.

View more videos at: http://nbcdfw.com.

Opening Up the School Yard Webinar -RWJF

A Public Health Law & Policy Webinar

In many communities, the safest and most convenient places for children to play are school facilities like gyms, sports fields, and playgrounds – but districts often close their property to the public after hours, concerned about liability, security, and maintenance. We'll take you through the nuts and bolts of how to create contracts that expand access to school grounds with schools, local government, and even nonprofits sharing the costs and responsibilities.

Opening school grounds for after-school and weekend use is a critical way to expand physical activity in low-income communities, especially during lean economic times. This webinar explores the key elements of negotiating joint use agreements and how to overcome real and perceived barriers to implementation.

Register for this free webinar

Let's Move in School Update

Peaceful Playgrounds is a Strategic Partner with Let's Move in School. Please share the information below with your schools and network.

DID YOU KNOW that regular classroom physical activity breaks can improve attention, classroom behavior, and test scores? Find out more....

Let’s Move in School (LMIS) for 60 minutes before, during, and afterschool to improve health and academic performance!

Join more than 1200 schools across the nation to celebrate Let’s Move in School during National Physical Education and Sport Week (May 1-7). Rally your school, district and state to demonstrate our shared commitment to improving physical activity in schools.

GET MOVING!

REGISTER your school to host a LMIS celebration during National Physical Education and Sport Week. Schools that register by March 28, 2011 will have a chance to win a visit from a member of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition. The first 10,000 schools to register will receive a LMIS poster.

Through the leadership the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) and its National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE), Let’s Move in School equips physical education teachers, administrators, school boards, and parents with tools to create an active learning environment.

Don’t miss the 2011 AAHPERD National Convention & Expo March 29-April 2 in San Diego, CA.

Have you made the transition to Facebook?

We are now posting timely information on our Facebook page daily. Yesterday the topics included:
1. Bullying Conference at the White House.
2. Health Needs a Hero Video link.
3. Story on Play Works and how play made a difference for a child.

We encourage you to go to the Peaceful Playgrounds Facebook page and click on the "Like" graphic. This will insure that you receive the daily feeds much like the blog feed you've been receiving daily.

Transitioning posts to Facebook

You may have noticed that we are posting less to the blog and moving over to Facebook for announcements, articles, and information sharing.

Over the next couple of months that transition will continue.

Please take a moment to go to our Facebook page. If you click the "Like" button you will continue to get the daily RSS feeds from Facebook which will be replacing the blog feeds in the near future.

Dance Your Way to Health!

Dance Your Way to Health!

Submitted by Emily Patterson on behalf of Primrose Preschools

Dance can be a fun, easy way to introduce physical activity into your family's daily routine. As a provider of educational child care, Primrose Schools has recognized and is actively fighting against the childhood obesity epidemic. Your family can join in the fight- all you have to do is dance!

The Family Dance-off supports Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, a non-profit organization that raises funds for more than 170 children's hospitals, which collectively treats 17 million children annually for every illness and injury imaginable.

Families are encouraged to record and submit a 30 second video of their family doing their dance to promote fitness and strengthen family bonds.

Participating in the Family Dance-off is easy:

1. Record a 30-second video of your family's best dance moves. Don't be afraid to bust a move and be silly!

2. Visit The Family Dance-off site and upload your best take by March 19.

3. Share your video with your friends over email, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

4. View and vote daily (five votes per day are allowed) for your favorite family dance video!

What would a competition be without prizes? Primrose Schools is providing prizes that aren't only great for your family but for your whole community, with $65,000 in donations to local Children's Miracle Network Hospitals:

· Grand Prize: $5,000 and Primrose will make a $30,000 donation to a local Children's Miracle Network Hospital

· 2nd Prize: $3,000 and Primrose will make a $20,000 donation to a local Children's Miracle Network Hospital

· 3rd Prize: $1,500 and Primrose will make a $15,000 donation to a local Children's Miracle Network Hospital

· All 14 Finalists will also receive a FLIP camcorder

Visit The Family Dance-off site for details on how to take part in the fight against childhood obesity, participate in the competition, and view past

From the National Center for Physical Development and Outdoor Play

New from the National Center for Physical Development and Outdoor Play

Upcoming FREE Webinar!

Play Everyday For A Healthy Brain!

Tuesday, February 22, 2011 – 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM EST

The brain NEEDS play! The human brain is an amazing and complex organ that allows each of us to think, feel, and act. The brain systems that regulate those activities are largely shaped by experience. Learn why play is essential for optimal early brain development and why it is vital for all parents and educators to be play partners and play advocates. Join Head Start Body Start and author, speaker, educator and parent, Deborah McNelis for this informative webinar.

To register, click: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/934576403

Sounds like a can't miss webinar. Hope to see you there.

Children's walking program

As the weather gets warmer and we all start to spend more time outside it’s a good opportunity for us AND the children we supervise to ensure we are getting a healthy amount of physical activity.

Children need to be active every day to promote their healthy growth and development. We also know that people who establish a healthy lifestyle pattern at a young age will carry those habits with them into adulthood.

A healthy lifestyle is something we can all benefit from and our children deserve to be given the opportunity to develop healthy lifelong habits.

Need some physical activity and nutrition ideas for teaching children? Visit our website at :
http://www.peacefulplaygrounds.com/pedometers.htm The We Count Walking program is an innovative new program designed to get kids fit with the slogan, " Get Fit, Don't Sit."

Call for your free information packet today. 877-444-9888 or email us at sales@peacefulplaygrounds.com




The We Count Program received a Promising Practice in After School Programming Award.
The Whole Story - Promising Practices in After School - 56kb - 3 Pages

Canada's Get Active Educational Toolkit

Download Canada's physical activity guides.

This resource is designed to help those who teach children and adults about healthy eating and physical activity. The Toolkit includes:

* The Eat Well and Be Active Every Day poster;
* Downloadable activity plans
* 54 healthy eating and physical activity images to complement the poster.

Moving Schools to Improve Health and Academic Performance

Let's Move in School (LMIS), a national initiative to increase physical activity before, during, and after school, was introduced by the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) and its National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) on February 1, 2011.

Take a look at the LMIS Promotional Video!

In support of First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign, the initiative helps youth achieve 60 minutes of physical activity before, during, and after school to improve health and academic performance. Let's Move in School brings together national education and health leaders to redefine school-based physical activity and offer new leadership opportunities for physical education teachers. The Let's Move in School Web site equips physical education teachers, administrators, school boards, and parents with tools to create an active learning environment.

Get Moving - in 3 Active Steps:

1. REGISTER your school to host a LMIS celebration during National Physical Education and Sport Week. Schools that register by March 28, 2011 will have a chance to win a visit from a member of the President's Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition. The first 10,000 schools to register will receive a LMIS poster.

2. SHOW the LMIS Promotional Video to others.

3. VIEW the LMIS Introductory Webinar (February 1) for more details and information.

Peaceful Playgrounds is proud to be an organizational supporter of the Let's Move in Schools Initiative.

The Let's Move Initiative should consider the power of playgrounds for combating the childhood obesity crisis.

A nearly free resource in the obesity crisis is the local school or park playground according to a study released by the Rand Research Corporation.

Girls who do not live within a half-mile radius of a school playground that is accessible when school is not in session have a 3-percent higher body mass index than girls who do have playgrounds within a half mile of where they live. Each additional open playground resulted in further weight decrease, according to a study of 1,556 sixth-grade girls in six metropolitan areas by the RAND Corp. appearing in the May volume of the journal Preventive Medicine.

That means that an average-weight 5-foot-tall girl in Louisiana would weigh about 3.2 pounds less for every open school playground in her neighborhood.

"We think there's an opportunity to use schools as a means of intervention," study author Molly Scott, a research analyst at RAND, told United Press International.

Link to article

ABSTRACT : Weekend schoolyard accessibility, physical activity, and obesity: The Trial of Activity in Adolescent Girls (TAAG) study

Safeway Inc. supports helping kids stay healthy

Tired of grant writing for your PE or recess equipment? Here's an opportunity using an e-script program to avoid those long hours of writing.

Fitness and good nutrition are important for a healthy life and a priority for Safeway.

With fitness and nutrition programs being reduced or even eliminated in schools, Safeway Inc. is asking that 20% of more than $20 million that it donates be allocated to fitness and nutrition programs.

Safeway's successful eScrip program allows customers to earn money for the school of their choice just by shopping with their Safeway Club Card. Each school can earn up to $25,000 annually. Schools can use the 20% allocated funds for a broad range of physical and nutrition programs and expenditures, such as fitness activities, sports equipment, nutrition or health speakers, and healthy food options on the school lunch menu.

Click here for rules and eligibility.

Small steps pay off in memorible ways

Small steps matter.

Small steps can bring about positive effects on your brain—without an Olympic effort. How? Walking. A new study indicates that adult seniors who walked three or more times a week resulted in brain growth which enhanced memory. http://su.pr/2em7AD

So now we know. Exercise isn't only good for kids but results in similar benefits for young and old alike. Get walking.

Play Everyday For A Healthy Brain Webinar

The Head Start Body Start Center is offering a series of webinars.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011 – 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM EST

The brain NEEDS play! The human brain is an amazing and complex organ that allows each of us to think, feel, and act. The brain systems that regulate those activities are largely shaped by experience. Learn why play is essential for optimal early brain development and why it is vital for all parents and educators to be play partners and play advocates.

Join Head Start Body Start and author, speaker, educator and parent, Deborah McNelis for this informative webinar.

To register, click: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/934576403

Colorado considers Mandatory Recess / Physical Activity Requirements

Colorado lawmakers are starting work on mandatory recess / physical activity requirements for schools.

The measure approved in committee Monday afternoon requires all elementary school students to receive 30 minutes a day of physical activity. It now goes to a vote in the House.

House Bill 1069 would allow physical education classes to count toward the requirement, but recess couldn't replace P.E.

Nine states and the District of Columbia enacted such legislation in schools in 2010 alone most citing the childhood obesity crisis as the impetus.