As a trade association for health clubs, the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) is rightly considered an organization dedicated to promoting healthy living through physical activity.

We believe deeply that physical activity is a core component of wellness and that its reintegration into American culture is vital to reversing the chronic disease and obesity epidemics threatening our nation's future.

We are cognizant, however, of the limitations of a policy that promotes "physical activity" as a silver bullet for ending our nation's health care problems. Surely, pursuing a healthy lifestyle means more than just regularly exercising. It means adopting a whole system of healthy behaviors, broadly defined as "primary prevention."

So this May, as we celebrate National Physical Activity Month, we are announcing our new commitment to a broader policy spectrum - a spectrum founded on our belief in physical activity as the basis for healthy living - and launching an effort to raise awareness of the need for primary prevention.

The new initiative is based on "A Vision for Healthier, More Prosperous America."

The text of the vision is below.

Primary prevention - the prevention of a disease before it occurs, including regular exercise, healthy eating, avoidance of tobacco and other controlled substances, stress management, and routine medical exams - is critical to public health and our country's future economic competitiveness.

It saves lives, encourages increased individual responsibility, increases worker productivity, and lowers federal health expenditures.

As individuals, professionals, and taxpayers, we must recognize the valuable and dramatic role that primary prevention plays in reducing the devastating toll that chronic diseases have taken on our country. And we must support preventative lifestyle practices for all Americans.

Since the late 1980's, roughly two-thirds of the increase in U.S. health care spending has been due to the increased prevalence of treated chronic disease. Today, about half of all Americans suffer from one or more chronic diseases. A greater emphasis on primary prevention would significantly reduce the annual cost of treating chronic disease (currently $1.5 trillion) in the United States.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, primary prevention may prevent 80% of heart disease and stroke, 80% of type 2 diabetes, and 40% of cancer. A greater emphasis on primary prevention would significantly reduce the incidence rate of preventable chronic disease.

Individually and collectively, we must help our citizens, legislators, and community leaders understand and respond to the documented correlation between chronic disease and primary prevention. We must actively promote public policies and principles - such as financial incentives - that promote primary prevention and personal responsibility, and that remove barriers to healthy lifestyle choices.

We also must support businesses, health professionals, and local public health communities in their efforts to promote primary prevention as well.

What do you think of this vision?

Childhood obesity has become one of the most widespread public health problems in the United States, and it has received tremendous media attention in recent years. Obesity in children and adolescents has also been thought to be a significant risk factor for cardiac disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure later in life.

Do American children meet the Guidelines?

Does much of the childhood population engage in 60 minutes of physical activity, and does that activity level increase or decrease over time? Laura Basterfield et al. published a study in the January 2011 edition of Pediatrics that showed that the physical activity levels of children are low. They found that the children averaged 26 minutes per day of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity at an average of 7 years old and 24 minutes per day at an average of 9 years old. Only 6.4% of children averaged the recommended 60 minutes per day of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity at age 7 and 5.7% did age 9.

A Proposed Solution

As gloomy as this data seems, there might be a fairly simple solution. Russell Jago et al. published a study in the February 2011 edition of Medicine & Science In Sports & Exercise looking at the influence of best friends on a child's physical activity level. The authors determined that the physical activity levels of 10- to 11-year-old children were closely related to physical activity levels of their best friends.

Encouraging children and adolescents to get outside with their friends and play will largely meet the Physical Activity Guidelines. It really isn’t that complicated. There are numerous examples of activities that kids can do together that are both fun and also have aerobic, muscle-strengthening, and bone-strengthening properties.

For example, riding a bicycle or walking a dog can serve as moderate-intensity aerobic activity. Games with friends, such as playing tag, or more formal sports, are terrific ways to get vigorous-intensity aerobic activity. Likewise, playing on playground equipment, playing tug of war, or climbing a tree are muscle-strengthening activities, while push-ups, sit-ups, or more formal resistance training can be used by older adolescents. Impact sports and activities, such as running, jumping rope, and formal sports like tennis and volleyball can help strengthen bones.

It is important to remember that children and adolescents should meet these Guidelines with a variety of activities. Engaging in activities that stress different body parts will avoid overuse issues and decrease the chance of injury. The STOP Sports Injuries campaign aims to keep kids active in sports and exercise while decreasing injuries that can occur. There are a variety of resources available to parents, coaches, and physicians to educate them and promote safety in sports and other activities.

Patterns of low levels of activity and high levels of sedentary activity are established in childhood and only get worse as they get older. Let’s work to get kids outside playing with their friends, exercising, and playing sports to keep them healthy for life.

What are some other ways that each of us can work with our community, schools, employers and our own families to  get kids outside and active more frequently?

This week, we present some of the “hot topics” in media surrounding physical activity among youth:

Exercise Helps Teens Overcome 'Obesity Gene' (Source:  US News and World Report) Researchers in Sweden report that lifestyle choices can challenge genetic predisposition toward obesity.

Nearly Third of Children Globally are Couch Potatoes (Source:  Reuters) Researchers at the World Health Organization surveyed 70,000 youth from around the world on their physical activity patterns. 

First Family Kicks Off Annual Easter Egg Roll (Source:  Associated Press/Google) President and Mrs. Obama infused nutrition and physical activity messages into the annual holiday event.