Preschool Exercise Programs--Do They Exist?Most of us would assume pre-school children are engaged in frenzied activity. We might also think pre-school teachers have a hard time getting children to settle down during the school day. A recent study shows quite the opposite. In the Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport (77, pages 167-176) an article entitled "Assessing Preschool Activity Levels" shows our pre-schoolers may already be on the path to a sedentary lifestyle. W.H Brown and colleagues set out to develop an observational system for assessing physical activity in preschool children. In their study, they found the four most frequent physical activities (from most to least) were sitting/squatting, lying down, standing, and walking. Running was a distant fifth activity for the children observed in this study. This research system is a tool researchers may use to better understand preschool-aged children's physical activity and how physical activity is linked to childhood obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. A significant finding in this study is children spend a great deal of their time at preschool in sedentary or stationary activities. It is not hard to predict what happens to sedentary pre-school children. They become less and less active as they get older because they have not developed the skills they need to make them participators. While much effort is focused on children age 6-11 we need to start with babies, toddlers and pre-school children is we want to reduce the incidence of obesity. GYMTR!X programs provide a complete curriculum of physical activities for teachers to use in the classroom! GYMTR!X programs are progressive and include activities for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and elementary ages. Preschools that use GYMTR!X programs will give children a hedge against obesity and promote lifelong physical activity.
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