Inactive kids? York health and fitness experts tell how to get them moving

Posted: October 8, 2012 at 10:23 pm


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Adults now worry more about children not getting enough exercise than about childhood obesity.

Eleven-year-old Jacob Landis, left, and his brother Alex, 10, participate in swim practice Monday at the Athletic Club in West Manchester Township. Many local gyms are offering more physical activity for children through new classes and programs. (YORK DAILY RECORD/SUNDAY NEWS -- JASON PLOTKIN)

Nine-year-old Holly Jacobs practices swimming Monday at the Athletic Club. (YORK DAILY RECORD/SUNDAY NEWS -- JASON PLOTKIN)

Inactive children who don't get enough exercise rank higher than worries about childhood obesity for the first time, according to a recent national poll.

Thirty-nine percent of adults rated "not enough exercise" as their leading concern for children, according to the poll from C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health. "Childhood obesity" was a close second, with 38 percent of adults rating it as a "big problem" in 2012.

York County health and fitness experts aren't surprised. A reason they cited for the shift in concern from obesity to exercise included kids spending more time playing with smartphones and video games instead of playing outdoors. Experts say parents are turning to local gyms for classes and special training to get kids physically active.

Busy parents struggle to find time for simple activities like walking around a block in their neighborhood with their families, according to Kate Harner, YMCA of York County's director of development and communications.

"As we have a new generation of parents with kids that are school-age, many of those houses are two-income households, two parents with careers," Harner said. "There aren't as many parents who can stay home as there were in the past. Now we aren't as attentive to taking care of people as we are about taking care of things."

Rise in medical problems

Doctors and healthcare providers are changing how they talk about kids' health and parents are responding to it, Kelly Marsteller, a registered dietitian at Memorial Hospital said.

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Inactive kids? York health and fitness experts tell how to get them moving

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October 8th, 2012 at 10:23 pm

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