Monkey play: an hour of BFF fun is good for everyone

When kids get older (8-14), it gets harder to schedule playdates and kids are expected to just go outside and be kids. With all the screens luring them to stay inside where it is warm and comfy, today's tweens are having a hard time just... being... kids... and getting the physical, outdoor play time that we remember as parents as "the norm". 

After reading Dr. David Geier's blog post about "Let's encourage kids to be kids," I thought my readers would get inspired by some bad news, and then some good news.

According to Dr. Geier, Russell Jago et al. published a study of 472 tweens (ages 10 & 11) in the February 2011 edition of Medicine & Science In Sports & Exercise looking at the influence of best friends on a child’s physical activity level, measuring activity levels, and used questionnaires to identify their children’s best friends, how often they play together, how often it involved physical activity, and where the activity typically occurred.

Best friends + sunlight = healthier kids

The authors determined that the physical activity levels of 10- to 11-year-old children were closely related to physical activity levels of their best friends. In addition, being active with their friends at home or in their neighborhoods led to increased physical activity compared to physical activity only at school. 

Kinda makes sense, right? So think about who your tween's BFF is... are THEY physically active? Can you get both kids to get more active together?  Maybe some BFF-parental teamwork?

Dr. Geier summarizes the research and provides some good recommendations:
"Therefore, it seems to me the benefits of children playing with friends might decrease obesity in two ways. First, we know that direct exposure to sunlight is one of the primary means of acquiring vitamin D (in addition to the diet). If vitamin D deficiency is associated with childhood obesity, as the Gilbert-Diamond study suggests, then playing outside on sunny days might lead to increased vitamin D levels and lower BMI’s. Also, physical playtime with friends who are active, not just at school but outside of school, might help kids get the recommended 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per day."

Sun + play = healthier and happier monkeys. Kind of a no-brainer, right?