Physical Activity: Grades 6-8

It’s Time For Young People To Lead America In A New Healthy Direction

Did you know that by being more physically active you’ll have more energy, get stronger, do better in school, and generally feel and look even better than you do right now? It’s true!

Right now only about a third of all American middle and high school students are getting enough physical activity needed for good health. The situation is even worse for your parents’ generation. This isn’t good. There are many different health and mood problems caused by inactivity and an inadequate diet. When you compare this with the many benefits of being more active and eating healthy, the choice should be pretty clear. We think you are going to choose to get in on the action, get moving, have fun, eat well and grow healthier!

By Making “Healthy Choices For Healthy Lives” We Can Solve The Problem

We want to help you figure out a plan to include more healthful and fun physical activity in your life. Come on; try it. It will be fun and you’ll feel great!

We’re confident that you’ve got what it takes to be a leader in this movement. It’s the newest thing. It’s a movement led by young people all across America to change the way we Americans are living our lives. You can change the direction we’re headed. You can lead the way for your family and your friends by showing them how to make “healthy choices for healthy lives.”

As you figure out new ways to have fun being active, we want you to share your ideas with other kids in your school, in your neighborhood, and around the world. Post your ideas and success stories on N&F's bulletin board. You’ll be helping other kids come up with good ideas who might otherwise be having a tougher time finding ways to have fun and be more physically active.

Why Try To Become More Physically Active: It Does Your Mind & Body Good.

You already know that cigarettes and drugs are bad for you. Well, the nation’s leading doctors at the federal government’s Centers for Disease Control say that physical inactivity can actually hurt us, too! But, by being physically active instead you reduce the chance of developing depression and many diseases, including type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and certain types of cancer to name just a few.

How Much Physical Activity Do We Need For Good Health

You should be aiming for about an hour per day. It is recommended that you collect at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity on most days of the week. As for the level of physical intensity or demand on your body of the activity, think of "moderate" as equal to the work it takes walk fast. Think of “vigorous” level activity as being as demanding as running, playing soccer, or jumping rope.

How Much Time Do You Spend Being Physically Active?

If you don’t know how much time you spend, you might surprise yourself. It's like solving a mystery. There are some things we can do to help you figure it out.

To make it easier to figure out your current level of activity, it really helps to keep a journal. You’ll find journal sheets on this website at: Daily Food and Activity Diary. Over the next few days try and mark down during or at the end of the day how much time you spent being active. You don’t have to do it all at one time; you can collect it over smaller segments of at least 10-15 minutes throughout your day. You can include in your journal time spent in gym class, playing on a sports team, running or playing games during recess, or any other activities you did before or after school that involved being on the move or getting exercise.

When you review your journal, you’ll have a pretty good idea of how much time you spend being physically active.

Tips for Making Healthy Physical Activity Part of Your Daily Routine

• Choose fun physical activities that you already enjoy or have an interest in trying
• Find activities that you can enjoy with friends or relatives (makes it even more fun)
• Try doing physical activity at a set time every day
• Do it before you turn on the television, computer or video games
• Keep a list of the physical activities you enjoy handy to provide ideas when bored
• Get your parents and entire family involved in a physical activity you can all do together
• Always remember to be safe and do a warm up before & a cool down after to avoid injury
• Keep a journal tracking your activity - be proud of your success in getting physically active
• Make sure to let your physical education teacher at school know that you’ve decided this is important to you. Let them know that you trying to include more physical activity in your life. They’re interested in helping you and have even more tips and good ideas you can use.

For a List of Healthy & Fun Physical Activities, click here!

Setting Short & Long Range Goals Can Make Physical Activity Even More Fun

A great way to make getting more physically active even more fun and rewarding is, to choose and strive to achieve some goal you set for yourself. While Nutrition & Fitness discusses goal setting in greater detail in its school assemblies and in its follow up programming with students, we want to remind everyone about the importance of setting and reaching goals.

When setting goals, whether an amount of time spent being active each day or a distance you want to be able to run without stopping, it’s important to set goals you can reach and to be specific about what you want to be able to accomplish..

You don’t want to set goals that are too high or take too long to achieve. So, instead, break up the goal into smaller goals you can reach in a few days and understand that it will take time to achieve the bigger, more distant goals.

Setting your goals is a process that you should work on with your parents or your physical education teacher. In the case of your parents, involving them in this way may provide the opportunity for you to work as a team and challenge each other to meet set goals. Your P.E. teacher has a lot of experience in setting physical activity goals; they do it everyday when they decide what your class needs to accomplish in gym period that day.

Remember, you should be proud when you reach a goal. It’s okay; you deserve it. Let your parents and other people who care about you know when you reach your goals; they’ll be proud of you too!

If You Get Stuck or Could Use Some Help: Ask The Pro

If you have a question about goal setting or about other aspects of making physical activity a priority in your life, talk to your parents first. If they give you permission you can also go to “Ask The Pro” on this site. Submit questions you have. Chances are that the answer to your question that will be posted at this site will provide help to others attempting to get more active.

Physical Activity Links