Teacher Informational Page

Review all the Great Finds below.

We know that more television watching means less physical activity! As a parent, you need to set limits on TV watching and video and computer game playing your child is doing. A great find to help you monitor screen time and teach children "television time management" is called TV Allowance. "Now parents may use the TV Allowance to set weekly allowable time for TV or video games for each child, therefore reducing the negative influence of too much TV in the home." Check it out at: http://www.familysafemedia.com/tv_allowance.html

Need to find a website that has many physical activities for children, plus a plethora of information about children and physical activity and physical education at school? Go to PE Central at http://pecentral.org. You'll find it all there!

If your child has a Sony Playstation, consider buying Dance Dance Revolution! It's the hottest dance game around! While playing the video game, players move on a "dance pad" to upbeat music to master the game. It's a great way to get kids (and adults) moving! For a review click here

Wearing a pedometer is a great way to monitor the amount of physical activity you are doing each day. One pedometer that is really good is the Digiwalker by New Lifestyles. They are about $30 each. Everyone loves them…both adults and children! For more information about pedometers, go to http://pecentral.org/pedometry/index.html

How many times have you made a poor food decision simply because you thought it was healthy, but it was really packed with sugar or fat? Or are you looking to increase your daily fiber intake, but not sure what foods are rich in fiber? Check out http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/ from the USDA to download complete nutritional data on all of your favorite foods to either your computer hard drive or PDA. You'll never be in the "nutritional dark" again with this smart and convenient software.

Would you like to know the nutritional value of your child's favorite fast food meal? The Fast Food Nutrition Facts Calculator allows you to pick from a number of fast food restaurants (McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's, etc.), and to choose the foods that your child will eat for a meal. Based on your child's age and gender, the calculator will analyze the menu choices for that meal for your child. Check out the calculator at: http://pediatrics.about.com/library/fastfood/bl_rest_choices.htm?PM=ss13_pediatrics

Help your child learn about nutrition and exercise. Here are seven great books for parents to help with overweight kids. For a summary of each book visit: http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/obesity/tp/overweight_kids.htm

Do you wonder about your Body Mass Index(BMI)or even your child's? BMI is a tool for indicating your body weight status. To find out more about BMI click here. Visit the the website What you Need to Know About Pediatrics to use the BMI for children calculator to find out if your child is at risk for being overweight or underweight. http://pediatrics.about.com/library/bl_bmi_calculator.htm?PM=ss14_pediatrics

Want to see how healthy your state is? A research group that focuses on disease prevention, The Trust for America’s Health, has a website that can give you all of the current statistics on diseases like obesity, diabetes, and hypertension. http://healthyamericans.org

Weighted hula hoops are a great way to have fun exercising. They help to create a great waist and taut tummy. To find one that is right for you visit www.hoopgirl.com

To get reliable information on nutrition, seek out the advice of a Registered Dietitian. You can find one at the American Dietetic Association’s website at www.eatright.org

Enjoy walking but need a new route? Visit www.mapmyrun.com to help calculate distances or to find a new route in your area.

Picking your own fruit can be a great way for parents and kids to spend an active afternoon. For a listing of farms around the country where you can pick fresh produce visit www.pickyourown.org

Visit www.activeacademics.org for a great website that has been developed to provide practical ideas to classroom teachers for integrating physical activity throughout the school day. Lesson ideas are short “10 minute or less” activities that get students moving while practicing content standard in a variety of subject areas.