Alaska encourages kids to Play Every Day

Get out and play!

It’s the easy way to get Alaska’s kids fit now and for the future

By Tim Ellis J ust go play! That’s the message state health officials have been getting out to educators, parents and kids in an effort to keep youngsters trim and healthy.

It’s important, especially in Alaska. Child health experts say more than a third of Alaska’s 3-year-olds are overweight or obese, and they say if kids don’t lose excess weight while young, it’ll be harder to shed those extra pounds. And that extra weight can cause serious health problems later in life.

“We know that oftentimes overweight children can grow up to be overweight adults,” says Ann Potempa, a public health specialist with the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services’ Division of Public

Whether its indoors or outdoors, kids need about an hour of physical activity daily. Alaska Department of Health and Social Services

Health.

That’s reflected in the division’s 2017 study on the problem, which shows that 2 out of every 3 Alaska adults are overweight or obese.

Potempa says health department experts have identified two strategies to stem the tide of obesity among children: increasing physical activity and reducing or eliminating consumption of sweet, sugary drinks. That’s why the department launched its Play Every Day campaign in 2012.

dren: increasing physical activity and reducing or eliminating consumption of sweet, sugary drinks. That’s why the department launched its Play Every Day campaign in 2012.

“The whole purpose of Play Every Day is to get kids active for at least 60 minutes every day, to help Alaska children grow up at a healthy weight,” she said. “We’re really focused on helping children grow up at a healthy weight to prevent serious health risks later on.” Those risks include weight-related diseases, like Type II diabetes, heart disease and more than a dozen types of cancer.

Fairbanks North Star Borough School District spokeswoman Yumi McCullough says district officials agree that keeping kids active can improve their health – and academic performance.

“Students that are physically active tend to be more focused in the classroom, and that in turn can lead to success in their academic life as well as outside of the school,” she said.

Potempa says the Play Every Day campaign works with parents, childcare providers and officials with schools and preschools to encourage Alaska’s kids to be physically active every day. The program focuses on preschool and school-age children, she says, “to help them build this daily healthy habit early, so it’s something that they want to continue.”

“As they get older, we see a percentage of them not getting the recommended activity anymore,” Potempa said, adding that studies of Alaska high school students show “only 1 in 5 still get that 60 minutes of physical activity every day.”

The proliferation of cellphones and other electronic devices is seen as a contributor to the problem. Just play! It’s easy for children to participate in Play Every Day. They simply have to do what comes natural for kids – play. “Like, when it’s snowy, sliding down a hill,” Potempa said. “Or snowshoeing or cross-country skiing. Or playing tag. Or all kinds of ball games – football, basketball, baseball. Or just riding a bike.”

“The whole point is to find what these kids and families love to do, and then just do it!”

But about when it gets too cold for kids to play outside?

“We’ve had really creative parents who’ve made obstacle courses inside, where kids are crawling under tables or jumping through hula hoops or getting them to do jumping jacks,” Potempa said. “Some parents have set up basketball hoops for little kids to play inside. Or even just having a dance party, where they keep kids moving. And they’re having a ton of fun doing it.” McCullough says borough schools have been participating in the Healthy Futures program for years. She says

despite occasional limits on playing outside during cold weather, “The district encourages students to exercise their minds and bodies to keep them active and healthy.”

Potempa says the department offers prizes to encourages elementary students to participate in the program through the Healthy Futures Challenge. The program is available to elementary schools for free through a partnership with an Anchorage-based nonprofit. She says nearly 130 schools statewide participate in the program, which requires students to record their daily physical activity during a three-month period during the fall and spring semesters.

“If they can get at least 15 days of 60 minutes of daily physical activity, they write it down and turn that in to a teacher,” Potempa said. “The teacher lets Healthy Futures know how many kids in the school successfully completed a log, and then Healthy Futures will send a prize to those children for building that healthy habit of physical activity.”

About 10,000 Alaska kids have participated in the program since it was established a decade ago.

In addition to promoting more physical activity, the Play Every Day program also recommends that parents, child-care providers and schools cut back or eliminate sugary beverages like soft drinks, energy drinks, vitamin drinks and sports drinks. Instead, the program encourages kids to drink water or fat-free or low-fat milk.

The American Society of Pediatrics recommends limits on consumption of 100% fruit juice. It says young children ages 1 through 3 shouldn’t drink more than 4 ounces of fruit juice daily and that children ages 4 through 6 shouldn’t have more than 6 ounces. Babies up to 1 year old shouldn’t have any.

But, Potempa says, fruit is a healthy food, because it provides nutrients and fiber. So she says parents and caregivers can just give kids slices of fruit, or the whole fruit, instead of juice.

Tim Ellis is a freelance writer living in Delta Junction. Comments about this story? Email editor@ AlaskaPulse.com.