Physical Playtime

[Country Kids]

Heard this on the news last night. Since children are becoming so overweight the Pedeatric Association is recommending 15 min. of physical playtime for every hour they are in childcare. So if you have a child in care 8 hours you would have to have them physically playing for 2 hours! I'm not seeing this as playing on the floor time but being able to run and jump outside. How does that work in the dead of winter when it is raining/snowing so hard? Also, if you do anytype of preschool there would go your whole morning of teaching time because you would need to have them outside. Also it wouldn't work because children are there all different hours. You would have all different times the children would need to be exercising. I can see an uproar over this one.

What concerned me is that they mentioned childcare. This automatically makes a person think (in my mind) that these children aren't being fed healthy at childcares and are not getting enough physical playtime while at childcare. Nothing was mentioned about while being at school or when they are at home just at childcare.

[kidkair]

How does that work in the dead of winter when it is raining/snowing so hard? Also, if you do anytype of preschool there would go your whole morning of teaching time because you would need to have them outside.

My kids run and jump inside during the winter when it's too cold to play outside. We do a weather check twice a day and if it comes up that we need to stay inside we jump, run, crab walk, bear walk, dance for awhile before returning to quieter activities. I do preschool stuff outside all the time because it's just mean (IMO) to keep them inside on nice days.

What concerned me is that they mentioned childcare. This automatically makes a person think (in my mind) that these children aren't being fed healthy at childcares and are not getting enough physical playtime while at childcare. Nothing was mentioned about while being at school or when they are at home just at childcare.

This concerns me too. It's much like the screen time thing I posted awhile back. We are getting more and more responsibility pushed on us so that parents can enjoy time with their kid and be their friends. In my opinion it's a ridiculous turn for society.

[Auntie]

What it sems like is that they are assuming that in childcare all we do is have them watch tv all day long. WRONG. Do they NOT know that when you bring kids outside it is way easier on you as a provider and duh we do that.

What it is IS parents are not feeding those kids healthy meals they do the quick McDonalds for dinner or whatever is fast and easy. Parents are NOT parenting any more they are just giving kids whatever they want to eat. I think the drs need to hold the parents responsible not the providers. Do these parents ever give their kid physical exercise outside when they get home? I supose some do have their kids in sports and this helps. What about the winter do these parents take their kids outside or do they plop them in front of the tv? How many of your daycare kids can tell you about video games or the computer? Are they learning it at your house? Probably not and if so I am sure it is monitored and not an all day thing.

Now my nieces dr told her that her son is Obese. At first I was like what? no he isn't well upon looking at him around kids his own age yes he is big and he doesn't look fat however, she feeds him fast food a lot and buys him candy cause he throws a fit otherwise and he is never outside. He is outside at daycare. That is the only time he is.

I know our state recommends a min amt of time outside a day weather permitting if not then we do have something that the kids can do. The state already has providers serving healthy meals when they serve them.

I think the pediatricians need to be more concerned about home life and what is being purchased by the parents and what the parents are doing than daycare.

[heyhun77]

We fit in a lot of active movement during transitions and other short times throughout the day (on top of the blantent active movement like dancing, jumping, ect). We have body movment that happens while waiting our turn for the bathroom, getting ready to go outside, ect as well as any time we are switching between activities. Since young kids don't have the attention span to stick with an activity for too long it's easier to throw short amounts of time into our days vs. longer stints of time.

[Unregistered]

Most days I'd be thankful if my kids would SIT STILL for 15 min. out of each hour - whether we're inside or out!

[GretasLittleFriends]

We dance... a LOT! I also have some child movement videos. One is called "I am wonderfully made". It is an exercise video designed for children ages 4 & up. I have used that on cold and/or rainy days.

Usually getting them to move isn't an issue, and don't often use the videos I have.

[Luna]

Heard this on the news last night. Since children are becoming so overweight the Pedeatric Association is recommending 15 min. of physical playtime for every hour they are in childcare. So if you have a child in care 8 hours you would have to have them physically playing for 2 hours! .

I don't understand this:confused:. I would think they would be recommending a certain amount of physical playtime per day, regardless of where they are. What if they are in childcare for 2 hours/day? Would they only need 1/2 hour of activity??? What if they aren't in daycare at all? Or a couple of days/week??? Childcare should have no part in this equation.

[mrs.meg]

It seems that you would need a small "gym" in your home! The exercise videos are a good idea, though.

It seems that blame is always shifted from the parents to the school or daycare, so that the parents are free to work and everyone else is responsible for the children.

I personally have seen that most of the overweight children I know not only do not eat healthy, but are not taught portion control. They seem to have no limit to what they eat. The dkg I watch said that her and her brother each get 3 packs of fruit snacks for snack at home. I know they are small, but I just don't understand why people think that is a good snack. They also seem to be getting all sugary drinks and no water. It seems foreign to them to get a drink of water instead of juice. We are BIG water drinkers in my house, and growing up my family drank a lot of water, so I don't really get it.

I remember my friend's son, the last time I remember him thin was when he was about 8 years old opening a large bottle of Pepsi without permission at his house. He is now 17 and about 100 pounds over weight.

[Blackcat31]

Most days I'd be thankful if my kids would SIT STILL for 15 min. out of each hour - whether we're inside or out!

I hear ya!! My kiddos get more exercise during nap time than most people do at the gym. ::