This question was recently posed in the Globe and Mail. Dr. Mark Tremblay is briefly quoted as he explains the benefits of active, outdoor play:
The 2013 report card by Active Healthy Kids Canada found less than seven per cent of school-aged children get the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity a day, while the Public Health Agency of Canada reports that more than half of teenagers exceed the recommended maximum two hours of sedentary screen time.
The benefits of active, outdoor play are obvious to Mark Tremblay, director of healthy active living and obesity research at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario: “Breathing fresh air, healthy exposure to sunlight (vitamin D), increased physical activity, decreased incidental eating, increased socialization opportunities and an enhanced connection with the community.”
Click here to read the Globe and Mail article.
