Children and physical activity

Editorial: Popular media are often highlighting rates of overweight and obesity in children and the implications for a range of disease processes associated with weight status. Afterall, the health and wellbeing of children is always an emotional touch-point with society, and one bound to gain attention at government and policy level. A significant contributor to weight status in children is physical activity. Whilst I will exclude the role of nutrition for the purpose of this editorial, by no way should this diminish its role in managing weight and a healthy lifestyle. At one level we could focus on those larger domains such as government policy and incentives for encouraging more active lifestyles for younger people. For example, governments in most countries contribute funding to a range of activities that promote greater involvement in physical pursuits, whether they be elite sport, grass-roots or developmental sport, provision of open spaces for recreational activities, or provision of sport and physical activity opportunities in school curricula. Significant investments are also made in government and other agencies to promote a more active lifestyle. Perhaps, however, we should focus more on the things “closer to home” that could have great importance in making our children more active and less sedentary.