Children need 60 minutes of active and vigorous play every day to grow up to a healthy weight.(source) If this sounds like a lot, consider that 8-18 year-olds devote an average of 7 ½ hours to using entertainment media including TV, computers, video games, cell phones and movies  in a typical day, and only a third of high school students get the recommended levels of physical activity.   To increase physical activity, today’s children need safe routes to walk and ride to school, parks, playgrounds and community centers where they can play and be active after school, and sports, dance or fitness programs that are exciting and challenging to keep them engaged.

Let’s move to increase opportunities for kids to be physically active, both in and out of school and create new opportunities for families to be moving together.

The Presidential Active Lifestyle Award is provided through the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.  This challenge for both children and adults is to build healthy habits by committing to regular physical activity five days a week, for six weeks.  Measuring daily activity for six weeks isn’t easy, and deserves recognition.  As part of the First Lady’s commitment to solve the problem of childhood obesity in a generation, the Council will double the number of children in the 2010-2011 school year who earn a “Presidential Active Lifestyle Award” by engaging in regular physical activity.

Take the President’s Active Lifestyle Challenge

It’s also time to modernize the President’s Physical Fitness Challenge and increase participation in the challenge, so it’s not just about how athletic kids are – how many sit-ups and push-ups they can do – but how active they are each day. Stay tuned for new and exciting updates to the President’s Physical Fitness Council and its efforts to bring more kids into the Challenge.

Professional athletes from a dozen different leagues – from the NFL and Major League Baseball, to Women’s Professional Soccer and the WNBA – are moving to help ensure kids get 60 minutes of active play each day through sports clinics, partnerships, public information campaigns and more.

This Spring, LetsMove.gov will unveil specialized tool kits and strategies to help increase physical activity for our kids and ensure 60 minutes of active play each day.

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