203765 Leap-frog for lawyers: Using local policy and law to promote play

Wednesday, November 11, 2009: 12:45 PM

Christine Fry, MPP , National Policy & Legal Analysis Network to Prevent Childhood Obesity, Public Health Law & Policy, Oakland, CA
Amy S. Ackerman, JD , National Policy and Legal Analysis Network to Prevent Childhood Obesity, Public Health Law and Policy, Oakland, CA
Manel Kappagoda, JD, MPH , Public Health Law and Policy, Public Health Institute, Oakland, CA
Marice Ashe, JD, MPH , Public Health Law and Policy, Public Health Institute, Oakland, CA
Lack of physical activity is considered one major factor in childhood obesity. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 66 percent of adolescents are not moderately physically active for 60 minutes per day, the standard recommended by public health agencies and experts. Studies of younger children present similarly dismal levels of physical activity. Children need to play not only to maintain good health, but also to develop creativity, confidence, and group skills. Researchers have identified a number of barriers to physical activity, including lack of access to safe places to play, decreasing opportunities for unstructured and structured play in schools, and lack of opportunities for safe, active transport around children's neighborhoods.

Public health advocates have developed a number of innovative approaches to remedy these barriers to physical activity. One approach is to use public policy and the law to improve children's environments. In 2007, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded the National Policy and Legal Analysis Network to Prevent Childhood Obesity (NPLAN) to provide advocates in communities across the country with model policies that promote healthy eating and active living.

In this session, the presenter will discuss NPLAN's model policies that communities can adopt to provide more opportunities for play and physical activity, including joint use agreements that facilitate after-hours use of school grounds, childcare physical activity standards, and policies that create infrastructure for safe walking and biking. The session will also identify legal resources that address liability in play, a concern often raised by decision makers.

Learning Objectives:
List legal and policy approaches to promoting play in communities. Describe resources on liability available to communities that want to implement play-related policies.

Keywords: Physical Activity, Policy/Policy Development

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: My background and past experience focus on public policy and local government. I participate in the development of NPLAN's model policies, which will be discussed in the session.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.