Kids and exercise By Nancy Tubiolo South Coast Beacon Now that summer’s officially over, are you still heading outdoors for some fun, even though the days are getting shorter and the air a bit cooler? How about the kids? Are they staying as active as they were before school started, or are the long school days making them more likely to stay indoors and catch up with the Simpsons? With so much recent media attention on children’s health, more parents are taking stock of their kids’ diet and exercise. That anyone in Santa Barbara could suffer from inactivity may seem incongruous, given the temperate climate and beautiful surroundings. Yet busy work and school schedules can leave the whole family feeling zapped. Admittedly, some days it may take a bit of energy to get out of the house, but just the change of scene and activity might actually give you more energy. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), children should engage in moderately strenuous activity for a minimum of 30 minutes per day. The AAP emphasizes that adults should “teach by example and be active role models,” encouraging “lifetime activities,” like walking, dancing, and bicycling, not necessarily just participation in organized sports. Peabody School physical education teacher Scott Holt observed that “99 percent of the kids love to move. In P.E. we encourage that by disguising exercise with fun games. The kids laugh and run around while they get a cardiovascular and locomotor workout, and the basic skills they learn here convert into sports skills later on.” Like the rest of us, he’s got his work cut out for him. Holt noted, “We’re fighting the video game generation, but in Santa Barbara we’ve got an incredible environment so conducive to being outdoors.” At Peabody, students have P.E. three times a week, 45 minutes a day, with supervised sports and other activities available at breaks throughout the school day. “We see physical activity as part of kids’ overall education,” Holt said. Across town, Alycia Towers, a playground supervisor at Ellwood School, also noted that “kids are naturally active. When they come out from being pent up in a classroom there’s an incredible release of energy.” Like Holt, Towers sees kids getting tremendous rewards from being outdoors because “there’s a lot kids learn outside playing.” Towers’ experience as a mom has deepened her convictions, and she’s even taken the video game curse and turned it on its ear. “My son Preston got into watching football and had a friend teach him how to throw. Then Preston taught me. He’s got the plays down from his video games and now he’s teaching me the plays. “I didn’t even know what offensive tight end was till last week, and now I’m it. Playing together is perfect — both the kids and the parents get in shape.” Her advice to parents: “Listen to your kid and your kid will teach you. You might be surprised at how much they know and what they can do.” Preston’s dad Micheal acknowledged that being active with your child is fun and good for your own health, too. “For me, exercise is the worst thing if you just do it to exercise. But if you’re playing or you have a goal, it’s strictly fun and a great way to spend time with your kid.” Even if your only time together is on the weekend, take that opportunity to be active. And what if weather or other circumstances prevent you from getting outdoors? “Just throw on a CD,” suggested Sandie Chalk, mother of two. The music is naturally moving. “After a half hour we’re dripping with sweat.” The former dancer and gymnast clarified that the emphasis is on fun, not on technique. “I love it because it really connects us. We laugh and have a great time and I get to share one of my joys with them.”