Study Shows Only 25% Of Kids Getting Recommended Amount Of Daily Physical Activity
PITTSBURGH (CBS) -- Brandon Darbhunauth, 13, estimates he gets two to three hours of exercise a day.
"I play football, basketball, cricket, soccer," he says.
But he is not the norm. A new study from the CDC finds only 25 percent of children his age meet the national guidelines of an hour of moderate to vigorous activity a day.
Brandon is an eighth grader in Manhattan where most of the students play at least one sport. Physical education teacher John DeMatteo says the key is to find the right activity for each child.
"The kids have to have fun. If they're not going to have fun we are going to lose them to video games and television and computers," says DeMatteo.
Health experts say an hour a day may sound like a lot to some, but it is do-able.
"You can imagine the family taking a walk after dinner or walking your dog for a long period of time, dancing, playing basketball," says Tala Fakhouri, Ph.D., of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Brandon's classmate 13-year-old Kendal Chapman also spends hours a day playing everything from volleyball to basketball and softball.
"I meet a lot of people through sports and also I just enjoy playing them, and I don't like sitting around doing nothing," said Kendal.
And most kids aren't doing "nothing."
The study found half the children exercised an hour a day five days a week.
Basketball was the most popular sport among active boys. Running was the most popular sport among active girls.
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