Playtime in child care
|
|
From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I'm Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.
Kids should be playing. And if they're in child care, they should be playing there. But a study indicates lots of active play may not be all that common.
Researcher Christina McWilliams of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill saw that in a survey of 96 child care centers in North Carolina:
[Christina McWilliams speaks] "About 14 percent of those met the best practice standard of 120 minutes of active opportunities."
McWilliams thinks that what she found in her study in North Carolina is likely the case across the nation. She says parents can encourage day care centers to keep the kids physically active - and be active with their kids at home. It sets the kids on the right path.
The study in the journal Pediatrics was supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Learn more at hhs.gov.
HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.