It is important to understand when the benefits outweigh the risk. We aim to understand common contraindications and offer modifications to address these.

TO DO: Create and submit a document of key contraindications of yoga for the age groups.

ACE GUIDELINES
The American Council on Exercise

Kids and teens should engage in 60 minutes or more of activity each day. Most of the activity should be moderate-to-vigorous intensity cardiovascular activity. Kids should include muscle-strengthening activities and bone-strengthening activities as part of their 60 minutes at least three days per week for each.

Activities should be fun, age-appropriate and varied. Because the average kid spends about six to seven hours per day in school, schools offer the best opportunity to ensure that kids get at least 30 minutes of physical activity. Schools should take a multi-faceted approach to increasing activity by including things like physical activity breaks, “enhanced” PE (that is, the kids actually break a sweat), activity sessions before and after school, and walking or riding a bike to and from school whenever possible.

Kids enrolled in preschool programs and daycare centers should receive ample opportunities to be active. This includes outdoor play time, portable play equipment (balls, tricycles, etc.), and access to play space and playgrounds. Staff should also receive training in the delivery of structured activity such as physical activity breaks and how to integrate activity into lesson plans.

Community leaders should aim to increase the walkability and aesthetic value of the communities by planting more trees and vegetation nearby sidewalks, increasing the number of parks and recreational offerings, developing bike trails, increasing residential density, and decreasing traffic speed and volume so that people can use methods other than cars to get around.

ACE believes strongly that schools, parents, professionals, community members, and other stakeholders should work together to make 60 minutes of physical activity a reality for all children and adolescents. ACE supports the following approaches to increase youth activity:

• Increase everyday activity through active transportation to and from school by implementing Walk-to-School programs and biking groups
• Increase opportunities for physical activity during the school day with daily scheduled short activity breaks and active recess
• Integrate physical activity into the school curriculum
• Increase the availability of physical education in schools and enhance the physical education curriculum to maximize active time for all students
• Enhance before- and after-school programs to provide more time spent in direct physical activity

ACE strongly encourages its more than 50,000 certified fitness professionals to participate in one or more of these approaches to help make the vision of a more active youth population a reality. In addition, ACE remains committed to providing the training and educational resources necessary to help fitness professionals, coaches and physical education instructors to be prepared and skilled in addressing the fitness needs of our nation’s youth.