Live near a park? Go with the kids.

I try to get my kids out as much as possible to exercise, especially during our long northern winters. The following study gives me an excuse to talk about how we can keep our kids active and more healthy and this is a good way to combat the problem of childhood obesity

According to a recent study submitted today at the American Heart Association’s conference in Florida, children at risk of being overweight who live in close proximity to parks, green spaces or recreational areas are more physically active. The new ongoing Canadian study is exploring the link between park proximity and walking.

The children included in the study are all exposed to a potential risk for future weight problems because one of their parents is obese. To evaluate the effects of environment on obesity, the families will be monitored over the next ten years, or until subjects turn eighteen. To date, the researchers have established that girls live close to parks are motivated to walk to school, while boys seem to be like walking in their free time.

This shows that it is not only the parks that are great but a walking commute to school, sadly this is not always possible especially for kids that live far from school

Lead author professor Tracie A. Barnett, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Université de Montréal, and researcher at the Sainte-Justine Hospital Research Center says:”There’s a strong association between walking and the number of nearby public open recreational spaces, including neighborhood parks, playgrounds and sports fields.”

The likelihood of walking to school more than doubles for girls and leisure walking by boys increases by 60 percent, for each additional park located within half a mile from their home. The assessment took into consideration the average level of education and family income in the neighbourhood.

What do you think of this? I believe that it means that if you get kids used to exercise then they will continue to find helathy wayws to live. Look around you and I am sure that this habit affects adults as well as kids.

Dr.Barnett remarks “We related the proximity and number of parks to how often children aged 8-10 years walked. This is important, since active transportation is a promising public health strategy to increase physical activity and to help curb the obesity epidemic. We know that walking to school has been decreasing steadily for the past 30 years as obesity rates surged, which suggests these two phenomena may be linked.”

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