A recent poll jointly carried out by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health has found that many families find it difficult to ensure their children are getting enough exercise. Almost all parents surveyed said they understood the need for children to exercise as part of a healthy lifestyle, yet around a third said this was not as easy as it may seem.
For some parents the only option is to ferry their kids around various sporting practices, something which can be time consuming when faced with today’s inner city traffic. Others though have developed more novel ways to ensure both they and their children get enough exercise. Many have made the decision to leave the car at home where possible and walk to their destinations, others see pedal power as the only means of getting around.
Time was our children would be active within the ordinary school day through sporting activities and physical education. However, many public schools, under pressure from budget constraints, have either cut the amount of time spent on physical education or cut it from the curriculum completely. Under these circumstances it falls to the parents to ensure their children are getting at least one hour of exercise per day as recommended by Federal health officials.