Exercise in daycare too limited, study says

Most children in day care don't get enough exercise, according to a study published earlier this month in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Researchers, headed by Kristen Copeland of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, found that children in day care spend only 2 to 3 percent of their time in vigorous physical activities.

"This is particularly concerning, because daily physical activity is not only essential for healthy weight maintenance, but also for practicing and learning fundamental gross motor skills and socioemotional and cognitive skills," the researchers said.

The time preschool children spend in day care may be the only opportunity for physical activity and outdoor play, the study indicated.

"Because many of the children were in care for such long hours, there was little free time for outside activities," the researchers said.

In its previous issue, Pediatrics published a clinical report on the importance of play in healthy child development.

"Play is essential to the social, emotional, cognitive and physical well-being of children," concluded the report, written principally by Regina M. Milteer, a pediatrician in Fairfax, Va., and Kenneth Ginsburg, a pediatrician at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Play allows children to be creative and helps them learn to cooperate, overcome challenges and negotiate with others, the report said. But schools have reduced the time allocated to creative arts and physical education, even during after-school activities.

Safety concerns, financial issues and an emphasis on academics are the principal reasons why children in day care get so little exercise, Copeland and her fellow researchers concluded from their interviews with 49 child care providers from 34 centers in Cincinnati. The study focused on 3- to 5-year-olds.

Study "participants relayed pressure from parents not to allow their children to get injured while under their watch, and at times were asked to keep children from participating in vigorous activity to keep them from being injured," the study said.

Strict new standards for playground equipment were another obstacle to exercise, the researchers found.

"Given that childhood obesity is quickly eclipsing childhood injury as a leading cause of morbidity ... licensing standards may need to explicitly promote physical activity in as much detail as is devoted to safety," the study concluded.

Many day care centers can't afford expensive playground equipment. And, the researchers found, "many did not have a dedicated indoor gross motor room where children can be active during inclement weather."

Day care providers told researchers they felt pressure from parents "to prioritize academic classroom learning over outdoor and active playtime." Providers reported being uniformly pressured by parents of all socioeconomic status.

The study concluded that "pediatricians may need to highlight for parents the many learning benefits of outdoor play," including better concentration, learning about science, negotiation with peers. It said pediatricians also could "reassure parents that active time does not need to come at the expense of time dedicated to academics and learning."

Brightside Academy, headquartered in Pittsburgh, operates 52 day care centers in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. Children at Brightside get at least an hour of physical activity a day, said Donna Piekarski, vice president of education.

"We take every effort to make sure kids have an outdoor play experience every day, weather permitting," she said.