Toronto, ON (PRWEB) June 08, 2012

One Million Solutions in Health reveals the first video to be launched in its efforts to reach one million solutions to improve the worldwide healthcare system.

The first solution targets obesity and obesity-related illnesses, which are being stated as one of the most prominent factors that affect the physical and emotional health of todays generation. The key to this issue will depend on how school curricula incorporate physical activity for kids and other related programs. However, the main challenge to this will be assimilating these activities in a way that kids remain motivated and willing, and continue to feel enthusiastic throughout the whole process.

President Obama, in his State of the Union address, stated: if we want to win the futurethen we also have to win the race to educate our kids. And if we intend to win that race, we must ensure that no kid should have to try to learn on an empty stomach, but has access to the healthiest, most nutritious food we can provide, plus physical activity they need for a healthy lifestyle and a healthy future.

With the Lets Move – Eat Healthy initiative by the First Lady Michelle Obama, the primary focus of eating healthy has garnered lots of attention in the past few years. Yet, providing sufficient physical activity for kids within the school hours and subsequently later, at home, seems much more difficult than anticipated due to the ever-changing and luxurious lifestyles.

According to a national survey in 2005, when looking at physical activity for kids, only 27.8% of girls, and 43.8% of boys, in high school had at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day. Hence, there has to be a solution where schools can offer the right permissive environment that leads to appropriate levels of physical activity for kids, and healthy living. One such solution can be found in the accompanying video.

The video reiterates the fact that if children (and their parents) have to be be more physically active and healthy, there has to be more focus on expanding the physical activity for kids through physical education and activity programs, and realigning the goals. There has to be a shift in understanding what children think, how they feel about themselves in relation to their health, and then offer them the choice of a physical activity that is to their liking. It all comes down to skilling students to be active and thereby activating their state of mind, as described by Costa and Garmston in their studies titled, Maturing outcomes – New Horizons for Learning, at the Johns Hopkins University School of Education.

Healthy eating patterns learned in childhood and adolescence promote optimal childhood health, growth, and intellectual development. With reference to this, schools should provide an environment that works with children’s natural desire to play and move, as well as a place where we can ensure that every child is provided with the possibility of a coordinated and sequentially developed health and activity program, commented Nehal Kothari, an associate with One Million Solutions in Health.

Combining this environment with cognitive tools that connect life choices to the active and healthy well-being of a family, and hence, a community, may seem a little ambitious at first. However, amalgamating life skills into physical activity for kids will yield a sense of healthy living and well-being, motivated by personal choice.

One Million Solutions in Health thrives on views like these to provide solutions and ideas that help to change the healthcare environment. Feel free to share comments, ideas or opinions by mailing it to info(at)onemillionsolutionsinhealth(dot)org or posting on the blog at http://www.onemillionsolutionsinhealth.org/1-million-solutions/physical-activity-for-kids/. Active participation is the key to building an empowered community with better healthcare facilities. And therefore, involvement in any form is highly encouraged.

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One Million Solutions in Health is a non-profit organization that provides a platform to explore and search for effective, long-term solutions for diverse problems that are currently facing healthcare across the globe. The main focus of this movement is to stimulate ideas, innovation and solutions by connecting people and sharing their inspiring ideas, to transform the face of healthcare throughout the world.

For more information, visit http://www.onemillionsolutionsinhealth.org

References:

Costa, A., & Garmston, J. (n.d.). Maturing outcomes. New Horizons for Learning. Retrieved from http://education.jhu.edu/newhorizons/Transforming%20Education/Articles/Maturing%20Outcomes/