How Active is Your Child at Day Care?

“How active is your child at day care?” researcher Sara Benjamin asked an audience of early childhood experts.  The guesses varied from 15 minutes to an hour, but none were optimistic.

An average eight-hour day of childcare, Benjamin explained, contains “less than one hour” of moderate to vigorous physical activity.  This is according to her study, which she previewed today at the Heathy Kids, Healthy Future conference.

Benjamin’s study aims to assess a new regulation in Massachusetts that requires all childcare centers to provide 60 minutes of physical activity per day.  The centers she measured in Massachusetts – and a control group in Rhode Island – all fell short.

In Massachusetts, children were sedentary (not including eating or sleeping) for 150 minutes per day, and spent 41 minutes engaging in physical activity.  In Rhode Island, children fared worse.  They spent 165 minutes – more than 2.5 hours – in sedentary activities with only 29 minutes out of an eight-hour day devoted to physical activity.  The study methodology considered all activity more vigorous than walking as qualified physical activity.

For the three-quarters of US children who attend day care, half of whom attend centers like the ones Benjamin measured, these findings are indicative of a worrying trend.

“Children are largely inactive,” said Benjamin.  “2, 3, and 4 year-olds should be out running around.”

For parents of these children, the results may be surprising.

“When you ask parents, they think kids are very active,” Benjamin explained.  “Parents would be surprised to learn how inactive their kids are in childcare.”

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1. Healthy Kids, Healthy Future » Guest Post: Ideas for Sharing Best Practices Among States — September 24, 2009 @ 1:49 pm

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