Do you encourage your kids to get off their devices and move around more? The Louisiana heat is a challenge, but with cooler weather on the horizon, I like to make sure my boys have a couple hours outside to stretch their legs and get moving. Extracurricular activities help keep our kids active but on days when they are home, how can we make sure they’re still getting the right amount of exercise to keep them healthy?
Based on national physical activity guidelines, children and adolescents should have at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day. However recent estimates indicate that 58% of children ages 6-11 and 92% of adolescents ages 12 to 15 do not meet these guidelines. Children are increasingly becoming less active in our digital world. Now television and other forms of technology often cause children to bypass the playground and shoot for the couch on a regular basis.
Science has shown that frequent exercise plays a significant role in preventing cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity and some cancers. We know physical activity can improve quality of life and that’s something all parents want for their children, which leads us to share about a neat study for kids. They don´t have to be running 10 miles a day to be healthy, all they need to do is to get up from the couch a few hours a day, like help around the house or do some chores to get them moving. You can have them clean some furniture or even install some timber plantation shutters Sydney. It doesn´t have to be an impossible task.
Researchers at Pennington Biomedical are conducting a study that will use technology (like activity trackers) to find out what prevents kids from being active and how to help them become more active. Researchers at Pennington Biomedical are currently looking for Baton Rouge area kids to take part in this study.
TIGER Kids Study with Pennington Biomedical
Study Purpose
The TIGER Kids research study will assess ways to increase kids’ physical activity and reduce sedentary behavior (help kids move more and sit less) to help improve their overall health. This study will use technology (like activity trackers) to find out what prevents kids from being active and how to help them become more active.
About the Study
Researchers at Pennington Biomedical will use state-of-the-art technology, including activity trackers and global positioning system (GPS) to track physical activity, imaging to measure body fat, and messages sent through a mobile phone app to identify what motivates or prevents kids from being physically active.
TIGER Kids participants will attend an orientation session at Pennington Biomedical to learn about the study, review participation guidelines, and receive activity tracking tools. These tools include activity monitors and a mobile phone app which will be used for 7 days and returned at a later visit. Participants will also have two clinic visits to Pennington Biomedical’s Translational Research Center for Children (TReCC) during the study, one clinic visit after the orientation and one clinic visit two years later.
TIGER Kids participants will attend a total of 3 study visits over the course of approximately 2 years with the following procedures:
- Body measurements (height, weight, and waist size)
- Blood pressure
- Surveys
- Dietary Questions
- Wear an activity monitor, GPS tracker, and respond to messages on a mobile app for 7-days
Study Qualifications
To qualify, participants in this study should be:
- Be between 10 and 16 years old
- Not be on a restrictive diet
- Not have significant physical or mental disabilities that impede walking, wearing activity monitors, or responding to questions on a mobile device.
Compensation
Total compensation for the completion of this study is $100.
Study Contact
Parents, are you ready to see if your child qualifies for the TIGER Kids study? Visit http://www.pbrc.edu/TIGERKids to screen online or call 225-763-3000.
Here are 15 great ideas from the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) for stepping your family fitness into high gear:
- Take active vacations (hiking, swimming, skiing)
- At the mall or when running errands, use the stairs rather than the elevator
- Get pedometers and have a contest to see who takes the most steps in a given week
- Start a new tradition: take the whole family out for an after-dinner walk around the neighborhood or park
- Take on active chores as a family (gardening, raking leaves, shoveling snow, or washing the car)
- Spend an afternoon at the local playground
- Play a sport together (basketball, soccer, baseball, softball, touch football)
- Dance to your favorite music
- Go for a family bike ride
- Plant a family garden
- Play miniature golf
- Go to the zoo
- Take the dog for a long walk
- Whenever possible, walk short distances rather than using your car. When you drive, park a little farther away from the store
- Play games that your kids love (tag, Simon Says, Red Light Green Light, Duck-Duck Goose)