Archive for the ‘exercise’ Category

Physical Education and Parent Involvement

Monday, August 23rd, 2010

Parents play a vital role in the health of their children and can strongly influence the choices they make at school. Making good choices regarding physical activity and nutritious food leads to improved student health — and healthier students are better learners. So encourage the parents of your students to play an active role in supporting a healthy school environment.

What can parents and families do? Here are a few ideas:

Provide Opportunities for Activity
  • Enroll their children in after school sports, classes or recreational activities
  • Expose them to a variety of physical activities
  • Identify ways to be active around your home or neighborhood
Encourage Healthy Eating Habits
  • Provide healthy snacks
  • Prepare meals with food from all of the food groups
  • Cook with your children
Be a Role Model
  • Be active regularly — and invite your child to join you
  • Reduce your own television and computer time
  • Cook more and eat out less
Monitor Screen Time
  • Limit the time spent each day using computers, video games and television
  • Avoid eating in front of the television
  • Provide alternate activities for children to enjoy
Advocate for a Healthier School
  • Daily physical education taught by qualified, credentialed physical educators — hopefully SPARK trained!
  • Healthier school lunches in all school environments (cafeteria, a la carte line, student body sales, etc.)
  • Using non-food related items for fundraisers and rewards

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Posted in Child Obesity, PE, Physical Activity, Physical Education, Physical Education News, SPARK, children's health, exercise, fitness, healthy neighborhood | View Comments

SPARKfamily.org Update 07/10: Physical Education and the iPad

Monday, July 19th, 2010

New Dynamic Rubric for iPad:

It’s mid-summer and although we’re not trying to get you back to school too soon, we do want you to be prepared when the time comes. So, we’ve added the first of our new iPad features for a handful of 3-6 Instructional Units. Check out our new Dynamic Rubrics and Class Roster templates.

Each Rubric and Roster template is given in XLS format and has been designed to look great and function well on iPad and laptops alike. Currently, we’ve posted these tools in the following units (3-6 Instructional Media Library): Aerobic Games, Chasing & Fleeing, Group Fitness, and Racquets & Paddles.

Here’s the quick-tips version on how they work:
(Numbers App is required for iPad)

  1. Visit SPARKfamily.org and download a Dynamic Rubric and Class Roster.
  2. Open the files in Microsoft Excel or Apple Numbers.
  3. Type student names into the Class Roster for quick cut-and-paste into each rubric. See tabs along the bottom of the spreadsheet for 8 separate classes.
  4. Save the rubric in an organized Rubrics folder.
  5. After names are entered into your rubric, connect iPad, select your iPad device in iTunes and select the Apps tab.
  6. Click on the Numbers App, then click “Add…” below the Numbers Documents listing.
  7. Choose the rubric you’d like to work with and click open.
  8. Sync your iPad and you’re ready to work!

Look for detailed iPad tutorials this Fall in the SPARKfamily .org Resource Center.

Enjoy the rest of the summer. We’re looking forward to serving you in the 2010-11 school year!

Aaron Hart
Development Director
SPARKfamily.org

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Posted in Child Obesity, PE, PE teachers, Physical Activity, Physical Education, Physical Education News, SPARK, SPARK Blog, SPARK PE, exercise, fitness | View Comments

Physical Education vs. Physical Activity

Monday, July 19th, 2010

This week Michelle Obama hosted a live chat and took questions from the field as they announced the new look to the Let’s Move! website. This movement has been exceptional way to raise awareness and a call to action to improve the health of our families in this country.

One disturbing piece of information continues to hamper physical education successfully moving forward. The terms “physical activity” and “physical education” are often used interchangeably, yet they differ in important ways. Understanding the difference between the two is critical to understanding why both contribute to the development of healthy, active children. Think of this: Physical Activity is a behavior. Physical Education (PE) is a core subject area with a curriculum that includes physical activity.

Here is NASPE’s definition of physical activity vs. physical education: http://tinyurl.com/27j2pcv

To those of us at SPARK, and certainly to the researchers, active classes is a hallmark of quality Physical Education. A PE class in which students are standing or sitting most of the time cannot be a good PE class. PE is about teaching through the physical. The goal is to teach movement skills, teamwork, and positive social interactions, as well as improve fitness and promote the joy of movement by getting students active. Right?

What are your thoughts??

-Kymm Ballard, Ed.D

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Posted in PE, Physical Activity, Physical Education, Physical Education News, SPARK, SPARK Blog, SPARK PE, exercise, fitness, obesity | View Comments

Do You Live in a Healthy Neighborhood?

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

I was recently asked to propose a short list of indicators of a “healthy neighborhood.” The list was to be considered by the San Diego Childhood Obesity Initiative, which is a wonderful coalition working hard to improve environments and policies to support children’s health. I thought others might be interested in the list, so I am sharing it here.

The items represent my understanding of likely physical or built environmental influences on diet, physical activity, and sedentary behaviors. Many of the items are consistent with evidence. I believe the general concepts are sound, but the specific numbers and distances are best guesses. For present purposes I added a few priority indicators for healthy schools and homes.

Healthy food access

  • Supermarket or other source of affordable fresh fruits and vegetables within ½ mile of homes
  • No more than 2 convenience or liquor stores within ½ mile of homes
  • No more fast food than sit-down restaurants within ½ mile of homes
  • Community garden within 1 mile of homes
  • Weekly farmer’s market within 1 mile of homes

Facilities for active recreation

  • Park with play equipment in good working order within ½ mile of homes
  • Parks have walking paths
  • Daily youth activity programs for free or sliding scale fees in all parks
  • Private recreation facility with sliding scale fees within ½ mile of homes
  • Nearest school activity facilities is open for public use

Designing for active transport

  • Sidewalks on every street in neighborhood
  • Pedestrian aids (crosswalks, signal) at intersection with nearest busy street
  • Street pattern creates direct routes from homes to nearby destinations
  • Nearest shopping area has sidewalks and safe pedestrian crossings
  • Public transit stop within ½ mile of homes

Healthy school environments

  • Evidence-based physical education offered daily
  • Markings on preschool and elementary playgrounds to stimulate active play
  • Sidewalks, marked crosswalks, and traffic calming within ¼ mile of each school to facilitate safe walking and biking
  • Salad bars with multiple raw food choices daily in every cafeteria
  • Only healthy foods provided at school
  • Convenience stores and fast food restaurants are not within ¼ mile of schools
  • No food advertising in schools

Healthy home environments

  • No televisions in children’s bedrooms
  • Only healthy foods out on the counter for snacking
  • Sports and activity supplies available for both indoor and outdoor play
  • A bicycle or skateboard for every child

James Sallis

www.drjamessallis.sdsu.edu

Posted in Physical Activity, Physical Education, SPARK, SPARK Blog, exercise, healthy neighborhood, healthy school environment | View Comments