Recently, Time Magazine (01.04.12) posed a fitting article and conversation to which AKASPORT can address, in
Why Kids Aren't Exercising in Day Care, by Alice Park. (The professional Journal copy/link here (Pediatrics.aapublication).
Although AKASPORT and all its programs are not your traditional,
Day Care, there are important principles and findings here to which AKASPORT has always strove to handle in its After School Multi-Sports and the most active all inclusive camps in Minnesota, the AKA All Sports Summer Camps. The research team for this Journal of American Academy of Pediatrics found three main societal barriers to kids and their lack of exercise in Day Care centers — (1) concerns about the children injuring themselves while at play, (2) financial constraints that limited some centers’ ability to purchase playground equipment, and (3) a growing emphasis on academic learning over unstructured physical play time.
These factors are curtailing children’s natural desire to be active, says Dr. Kristin Copeland, and could be detrimental to youngsters’ health in the long term. “Children are naturally active — they love to play, and to play vigorously,” she says. “If given the time and place and freedom to run, they will do that. But children at this age are entirely dependent on caregivers for the opportunity to be active.”
I'll let the reader assess these findings from here, it is supported that AKASPORT programs and all of the facilities and equipment that are used, focus to ensure kids are active with safe conditions, fair costs, and a strong sense that academics and sportsmanship come first!
