Physical Activity - Children in North Carolina

North Carolina

Regular physical activity in children and adolescents is associated with improved bone health, weight status, cardiovascular and muscular fitness, and reduced risk of depression. Physical activity can ease symptoms of stress and anxiety in teenagers, and contribute to their overall social development. 

Lack of physical activity is a driving factor of the childhood obesity epidemic in the United States. There is evidence that physical activity can improve academic performance and other cognitive and memory functions. Exercise also increases the chances of living a longer and healthier life, and children who engage in regular physical activity are more likely to become physically active adults.

According to the National Survey of Children’s Health, the prevalence of physical activity is higher among:

• Boys ages 6-11 and 12-17 than girls of the same ages. 
• Non-Hispanic white children ages 6-11 compared with those who are non-Hispanic Asian, non-Hispanic Black or Hispanic.
• Children ages 12-17 who are non-Hispanic multiracial, non-Hispanic white or non-Hispanic Black compared with those who are non-Hispanic Asian or Hispanic.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists several strategies for increasing physical activity, including connecting more activity-friendly routes to everyday destinations and implementing comprehensive school physical activity programs. 

Some other ways to increase physical activity among children include: 

• Encouraging children to spend time outdoors, which can increase their willingness to be physically active. 
• Setting a good example and planning family activities that involve physical movement (e.g., hiking, biking or playing sports together).
• Promoting access to fun and energetic after-school activities that are outdoor or include physical exercise. 
• Limiting screen time on television, electronic devices and video games. 

County Health Rankings & Roadmaps has several evidence-based approaches for increasing physical activity among children in school, including:

• Incorporating physical activities into routines, schedules and infrastructure through initiatives like active recess.
• Safe Routes to Schools, a federal program that supports improvements to walking and biking design and infrastructure.
• Walking school buses, an organized program that encourages children to walk to school safely under the supervision of adult chaperones, whom they meet at designated stops on routes similar to those of school buses.

The Community Preventive Services Task Force recommends the implementation of improved physical education (PE) programs within schools to boost levels of physical activity. This involves modifying coursework, incorporating frequent fitness and circuit training activities, and implementing new teaching strategies. The CDC has developed a PE Curriculum Analysis Tool to help schools align with national standards. 

Healthy People 2030 has several goals related to physical activity, including: 

• Increasing the proportion of children who do enough aerobic physical activity. 
• Increasing the proportion of adolescents who do enough muscle-strengthening activity.
• Increasing the proportion of children and adolescents who play sports.

Guo, Zhifeng, and Yiying Zhang. “Study on the Interactive Factors between Physical Exercise and Mental Health Promotion of Teenagers.” Edited by Kalidoss Rajakani. Journal of Healthcare Engineering 2022 (January 25, 2022): 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/4750133.

Ha, Amy S., Johan Y. Y. Ng, Chris Lonsdale, David R. Lubans, and Florrie F. Ng. “Promoting Physical Activity in Children through Family-Based Intervention: Protocol of the ‘Active 1 + FUN’ Randomized Controlled Trial.” BMC Public Health 19, no. 1 (December 2019): 218. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-6537-3.

Hillman, Charles H., Katherine M. McDonald, and Nicole E. Logan. “A Review of the Effects of Physical Activity on Cognition and Brain Health across Children and Adolescence,” November 6, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1159/000511508.

Kohl, Harold W. III, and Heather D. Cook, eds. Educating the Student Body: Taking Physical Activity and Physical Education to School. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, 2013. https://doi.org/10.17226/18314.

Sahoo, Krushnapriya, Bishnupriya Sahoo, Ashok Kumar Choudhury, Nighat Yasin Sofi, Raman Kumar, and Ajeet Singh Bhadoria. “Childhood Obesity: Causes and Consequences.” Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care 4, no. 2 (2015): 187. https://doi.org/10.4103/2249-4863.154628.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd Edition.” Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2018. https://health.gov/sites/default/files/2019-09/Physical_Activity_Guidelines_2nd_edition.pdf.