A January 2008 study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health show that teens who get involved in active play are more likely to maintain a normal weight as young adults. Active play can be defined as being on a sports team, being active in gym class or just playing a game on the playground basketball court. The study goes on to say that ‘for each weekday of physical education at school the odds of being an overweight adult decreased by (a little over)5 percent’. That’s at least 25% for a whole school week of active play!

The problem is that most high school students don’t have a gym class or any type of active play program every day. Many only have it for part of the school year, some not at all. The Institute of Medicine says ‘only 6 percent of junior high schools and 5 percent of senior high schools offer daily physical education’. If your teen is on a sports team, they are only allowed to play at the high school gym during that season.

Many teens are not active at all with high school extracurricular activities. It would help if there was more play offered in school, not just elite athletes being able to play on a sports team – although parents like to be fans of that too.

Asking the community: What do you think? Do you feel your teen would take advantage of more ‘play’ being offered in school? Share your thoughts, opinions and experiences in the comments area.

This post is part of the All About Parenting Blog Carnival. There is still time to add your submissions.

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