One of our occasional conversations with thought leaders in education.
When it comes to kids and exercise, schools need to step up and focus more on quality as well as quantity. And, says Dr. Gregory D. Myer, they need to promote activities that develop motor skills, socialization and fun.
Myer is one of the authors of a recent paper and commentary on children and exercise. He's also director of the Human Performance Lab and director of research at the Division of Sports Medicine at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.
Like others, Myer notes that when it's time to trim the budget, PE, art and music classes are often the first to go. While he's certainly distressed by those cuts, he and his co-authors also seek to question the "current dogma that is currently focused on the quantitative rather than qualitative aspects of physical activity" programs for youth.
Myer helped develop exercise guidelines for youth aimed at reducing sports-related injuries and promoting health. The guidelines call for greater focus on short, interval-like bursts of activity interspersed with rest. It includes core strength building, resistance training, agility and more.
[For more of this story, written by Eric Westervelt, go to http://www.npr.org/blogs/ed/20...-and-moving-to-learn]
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