Increased Access to Safe and Attractive Places for Physical Activity
Action steps to increased access to safe and attractive places for physical activity in the state include:
Provide funding to state schools to fund additional recreational facilities.
States can provide additional funding to ensure that schools have adequate facilities to allow students to participate in both intramural and interscholastic sports and other after school recreational activities.
Recommended by:
- AAP Policy: Active Healthy Living: Prevention of Childhood Obesity Through Increased Physical Activity
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) : Recommended Community Strategies and Measurements to Prevent Obesity in the United States
- Institute of Medicine (IOM) Report: Local Actions to Prevent Childhood Obesity
- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF): Action Strategies Toolkit - A Guide for Local And State Leaders to Create Healthy Communities And Prevent Childhood Obesity Executive Summary
For more information: National Recreation and Parks Association
Pediatricians are reminded that all state advocacy efforts should be coordinated with state AAP chapters. To connect with your state AAP chapter, please visit: http://www.aap.org/member/chapters/chaplist.cfm
Implement a Safe Routes to School program, which improves access to safe bike and walking paths to school.
Federal legislation allocated money to states to fund Safe Routes to Schools programs that build additional sidewalks, create bike lanes and bike paths, fund crossing guards, and decrease speed limits in school zones to encourage children to walk and bike to school. States can provide additional funding and support for these programs to encourage children to walk/bike to school.
Recommended by:
- AAP Policy: The Built Environment: Designing Communities to Promote Physical Activity in Children
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Recommended Community Strategies and Measurements to Prevent Obesity in the United States
- Institute of Medicine Report (IOM): Local Actions to Prevent Childhood Obesity
- National Governor's Association (NGA): Successful State Strategies to Prevent Childhood Obesity
- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF): Action Strategies Toolkit - A Guide for Local And State Leaders to Create Healthy Communities And Prevent Childhood Obesity Executive Summary
For more information: National Center for Safe Routes to Schools
Pediatricians are reminded that all state advocacy efforts should be coordinated with state AAP chapters. To connect with your state AAP chapter, please visit: http://www.aap.org/member/chapters/chaplist.cfm
Provide additional funding for parks, playgrounds, green space, and walking and bike trails.
States can encourage physical activity in children by funding additional parks, playgrounds, greens space, and walking trail,s particularly in low-income urban areas and rural areas which have limited access to outside recreational facilities.
Recommended by:
- AAP Policy: The Built Environment: Designing Communities to Promote Physical Activity in Children
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Recommended Community Strategies and Measurements to Prevent Obesity in the United States
- Institute of Medicine (IOM) Report: Local Actions to Prevent Childhood Obesity
- National Governor's Association (NGA): Successful State Strategies to Prevent Childhood Obesity
- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF): Action Strategies Toolkit - A Guide for Local And State Leaders to Create Healthy Communities And Prevent Childhood Obesity Executive Summary
For more information: National Recreation and Parks Association
Pediatricians are reminded that all state advocacy efforts should be coordinated with state AAP chapters. To connect with your state AAP chapter, please visit: http://www.aap.org/member/chapters/chaplist.cfm
Institute neighborhood school programs which prioritize placement of a student near walking distance of their homes.
States can enact legislation that would require localities to place newly constructed schools areas that are optimal to ensuring that students have the ability to walk or bike to school.
Recommended by:
- AAP Policy: The Built Environment: Designing Communities to Promote Physical Activity in Children
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Recommended Community Strategies and Measurements to Prevent Obesity in the United States 1/ 2 / 3
- Institute of Medicine Report (IOM): Local Actions to Prevent Childhood Obesity
- National Governor's Association (NGA): Successful State Strategies to Prevent Childhood Obesity
- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF): Action Strategies Toolkit - A Guide for Local And State Leaders to Create Healthy Communities And Prevent Childhood Obesity Executive Summary
For more information: Safe Routes to School Partnerhip
Pediatricians are reminded that all state advocacy efforts should be coordinated with state AAP chapters. To connect with your state AAP chapter, please visit: http://www.aap.org/member/chapters/chaplist.cfm
Increase Physical Activity
Action steps to increase physical activity in the state include:
Require that all schools offer 1 hour of quality, daily physical education in schools.
States can ensure that schools prioritize physical activity in the school day by mandating that all students receive at least 1 hour of quality, physical education every day.
Recommended by:
- AAP Policy: Active Healthy Living: Prevention of Childhood Obesity Through Increased Physical Activity
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Recommended Community Strategies and Measurements to Prevent Obesity in the United States
- Institute of Medicine (IOM) Report: Local Actions to Prevent Childhood Obesity
- National Governor's Association (NGA): Successful State Strategies to Prevent Childhood Obesity
- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF): Action Strategies Toolkit - A Guide for Local And State Leaders to Create Healthy Communities And Prevent Childhood Obesity Executive Summary
For more information: American Heart Association
Pediatricians are reminded that all state advocacy efforts should be coordinated with state AAP chapters. To connect with your state AAP chapter, please visit: http://www.aap.org/member/chapters/chaplist.cfm
Implement tax policy to make health club fees/recreational program fees tax deductible from state income tax.
Implementing a tax policy that allows parents to deduct health club and recreational program fees from state income tax through annual tax filing or employer-based flexible spending account programs can encourage increased physical activity.
Recommended by:
- AAP Policy: Active Healthy Living: Prevention of Childhood Obesity Through Increased Physical Activity
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Recommended Community Strategies and Measurements to Prevent Obesity in the United States
- Institute of Medicine Report: Local Actions to Prevent Childhood Obesity
For more information: International Health, Racquet, and Sports Club Association
Pediatricians are reminded that all state advocacy efforts should be coordinated with state AAP chapters. To connect with your state AAP chapter, please visit: http://www.aap.org/member/chapters/chaplist.cfm
Institute public campaign to encourage parents to make sure their children are getting the needed amounts of daily physical activity.
A statewide media campaign aimed at increasing physical activity among children can encourage parents to ensure that their children are getting the necessary physical activity.
Recommended by:
- AAP Policy: Active Healthy Living: Prevention of Childhood Obesity Through Increased Physical Activity
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Recommended Community Strategies and Measurements to Prevent Obesity in the United States
- Institute of Medicine Report (IOM): Local Actions to Prevent Childhood Obesity
For more information: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) "Promoting Active Living: A Guide to Marketing and Communication"
Pediatricians are reminded that all state advocacy efforts should be coordinated with state AAP chapters. To connect with your state AAP chapter, please visit: http://www.aap.org/member/chapters/chaplist.cfm
Last Updated
03/15/2022
Source
American Academy of Pediatrics