More troubling news that speaks to the growing childhood obesity epidemic plaguing our country just came out today. A new national study shows most U.S. kids don't have enough time or space to play every day.
KaBOOM, a national non-profit dedicated to bringing play back into the lives of our children, released a report that found 59% of the kids in our country don't have access to a playground. That number skyrocketed to 69% in the lowest income brackets.
Nine out of ten parents surveyed said their own children spend less time playing outside than they did when they were growing up.
First Lady Michelle Obama helped volunteers build a playground in San Francisco this week and spoke about the importance of playgrounds in helping children develop healthier habits. The Healthiest State Campaign has long fought to help keep our children healthy through events such as the Governor's Health Bowl and the Spring Training Challenge and through policies such as the legislation to promote coordinated school health in Washington state.
I hope kids will be able to get out and play more frequently. Back when I was a kid we had a lot more unsupervised active time outdoors.
Posted by: Xavier Yancey | June 23, 2009 at 03:17 PM