One of the biggest obstacles many communities face in encouraging children and their families to be physically active is a lack of accessible open spaces and athletic facilities.
But addressing the issue won’t necessarily require building parks or fitness centers. It could be as simple as unlocking a gate.
Most local schools have playgrounds, gyms, fields, basketball courts and other open space, but school officials often close these facilities after school because of legitimate concerns over cost, vandalism, security and liability in case of injury.
It means kids have a harder time being active after school — but there is a solution. Many schools and local governments have partnered to create shared-use agreements that allow school playgrounds and gyms to be used after-school to support physical activity among all community members.
Crafting and implementing joint use agreements can be tricky — but PreventObesity.net is here to help. Attend a webinar at 2 p.m. EST on May 17 designed to explain the concept of shared-use agreements, offer tips for reaching out to schools and governments to create them and provide help with navigating local laws and regulations to craft them.
Manal Aboelata from the Prevention Institute will join PreventObesity.net’s Rebecca Frank to moderate the webinar. Scheduled speakers include Dr. John Spengler from the University of Florida, Dr. Jamie Chriqui from the University of Illinois at Chicago and Genoveva Islas-Hooker, from the Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program.