Remember when your parents would kick you outside and say, “Just go outside and play.” Sadly the trend of children being active and “just playing” is going in the wrong direction. Recreation programs have been cut, physical education classes have been on the chopping block and childhood obesity is at an all-time high. There is no denying the benefits of exercise and the alarming studies keep being released. A recent study showed that only 42 percent of American children are making it into the “healthy fitness zone.” A new initiative hopes to stop the trend and push it back in the right direction. The Aspen Group has created a program called Project Play with a goal to educate parents, children and communities on the benefits of play, and at the same time answer questions about sports in the United States. Project Play’s goal is to stimulate the discussion surrounding getting kids active in recreational activities as well as where youth sports are today. In 2015, the group will be releasing its plan to get our children back out playing in parks, organizing their own pickup games and having fun doing it.
You can join the conversation at http://www.aspenprojectplay.org.