News - News releases
April 20, 2009
Annual school-based celebration encourages youth to turn off the screen and play outdoors
HERSHEY, Pa. – On Wednesday, April 22, schools throughout Pennsylvania will
encourage youth to turn off the screen - computer, TV and video games - and "move it
outside."
According to a 2003 CDC report on physical activity among children, more than 60 percent of children between the ages of nine and 13 do not participate in any type of organized physical activity outside of school, and nearly one-fourth get no free time physical activity at all. Instead children are spending larger amounts of time participating in non-education related screen time activities like social networking, video games and watching TV.
To reverse this trend in screen-filled sedentary lifestyles, Penn State Hershey Center for
Nutrition and Activity Promotion (Center) hosts an annual health education event that
focuses on outdoor play - Move it Outside. Move it Outside is held annually during National
Turn off the TV Week and encourages youth and families to be active outdoors.
During the 2007-08 school year, 320 schools engaged more than 170,000 students in Move it
Outside activities such as field day; Frisbee® golf, bowling and baseball; Ultimate Frisbee®;
and Turn off the TV week pledges.
Allison Topper, Center executive director, explains, "By promoting outdoor play at school, after school and at home, we can help children build active, healthy bodies and increase physical activity levels-one important strategy in ending the obesity epidemic."
This year's Move it Outside celebration is funded in part by the Pennsylvania State
Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance and FlagHouse, the
leading provider of high-quality physical education products and programs to schools and
facilities nationwide.
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Penn State Hershey Center for Nutrition and Activity Promotion works collectively
with state and national partners to conduct research and evaluate promising obesity
prevention practices. Since 2003, this important work has been translated into programs
and events implemented by the state network Pennsylvania Advocates for Nutrition
and Activity (PANA). For more information about the Center and its programs, please
visit www.nrgbalance.org.
“The stellar interaction between the Center and administrators at six PA public schools led to a very successful week-long health ride. I enjoyed working with the Center and would highly recommend them as partners in any future projects.”
