Written on behalf of the National Physical Activity Plan
The National Physical Activity Plan (NPAP) commentary series, a bi-monthly e-publication designed to draw attention to timely and thought-provoking issues in physical activity and public health, released its third installment December 1, 2015. These opinion essays aim to generate momentum to advance the field of physical activity and public health. Each commentary addresses a current physical activity and public health issue that is of interest to a broad range of people – researchers, practitioners, policymakers, community leaders, educators, and more. Check out the latest commentary by Mark Fenton, excerpted below. Past commentaries can be viewed on the NPAP website.
Building a World for Free Range Kids
by Mark Fenton
The National Physical Activity Plan is currently being updated, and to some this may seem to be nothing more than an exercise in rhetoric. It could be argued that it’s just adding more words that keep saying the same thing:
1. Americans should be more physically active, and …
2. We need to put in place programs, physical infrastructure, and policies that make this more likely to occur.
The plan proposes to build a world, as it were, where being physically active is the default. As a member of the team working on the Transportation, Land Use, and Community Design sector (TLUCD), and a collaborator with many of the other sector teams, I can say that with this update the plan is taking an important evolutionary step. It’s getting into the weeds and exploring the details of what it’s going to take to actually create such settings. Or in plain English, exploring what it’s going to take to rebuild a world for free range children.
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