Off and Running! NWF Helps Launch National Physical Activity Plan

This week, NWF joined a coalition of experts to release the first National Physical Activity Plan, a spankin’ new initiative that aims to beef up our nation’s health.

The plan was released Monday in an effort to motivate people in every community to be physically active. The coordinating committee made public policy recommendations to help remove hurdles that may stand in the way of reaching fitness goals. Physical activity barriers include concerns over safety and affordability, as well as puny awareness of accessible neighborhood trails.

NWF helps launch the National Physical Activity Plan

NWF’s policy and education experts, along with leaders at the Sierra Club, helped coordinate ways to integrate physical activity opportunities into nature’s open spaces and outdoor recreation areas. Our Be Out There movement works to address the negative health impacts of too much sedentary time indoors by promoting outside play and physical activity in nature.

According to a recent paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the rate of chronic disease among American children has doubled in the past two decades—and much of the increase was a result of obesity. Kids simply don’t fit enough outdoor, unstructured play into their lives, and our national health is languishing.

Kids having a ball

Learn more about the benefits of unstructured outdoor playtime

NWF wants you to know of the vast co-benefits that unstructured, outdoor playtime provides to the health of our children, our economy, and the future of conservation.

Check out how we advocate for active time outdoors in nature to be a major focus of the work of Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, as well as first lady Michelle Obama‘s Let’s Move! campaign.

Visit BeOutThere.org to learn about the movement to connect children to nature.

Go to PhysicalActivityPlan.org to view the full plan.

Photo Credit: Flickr’s foreversouls