First Lady Obama Urges National Action on Childhod Obesity

First lady Michelle Obama appealed to the nation's governors today for help in reducing childhood obesity, telling them that they have a moral and financial imperative to act.  Obama seeks support from leaders of both parties and expressed respect for the influence of the states.

The first lady has chosen what she hopes will be her legacy for the nation--the "Let's Move" campaign to curb childhood obesity. About two-thirds of American adults, and about a third of American children, are overweight or obese.

As articulated over the past several months, the first lady's campaign has four parts:

1. Helping parents make better food choices;
2. Serving healthier food in school vending machines and lunch lines;
3. Making healthy food more available and affordable; and
4. Encouraging children to exercise more.

The National Campaign for Play, organized by national non-profit KaBoom! and supported by the Columbia Play Commission, has been endorsed by Obama as a partner dedicated to bringing play back into the lives of America's children. Play makes children happier, fitter, smarter, and more socially adept and creative both here and now and in the future.

 

Is the Downturn Helping Spur Play?

While the economic downturn is bad in many ways, it may be making play--at least in local venues--more popular and even less expensive.

The Chicago Tribune reports that municipal parks and other attractions are attracting booming crowds eager to find an inexpensive place close to home for relaxation. "This is good news for scores of Chicago-area municipal parks, which have attracted visitors like ants to egg salad during this coolish summer," the Tribune opines.

Many parks are hosting larger than normal turnouts, officials say. Evanston and Des Plaines report surges in picnic-area rentals. Naperville is adding new programs for budget-conscious locals, while Aurora is seeing big crowds at a popular--and free--tram ride. Low fees for daily use of pavilions and nearby basketball, baseball and beach-volleyball courts, plus a playground for the youngsters amount to a "reasonably priced" day out for many. Naperville park officials aren't shy about catering to the new austerity and promote "staycations" on the City website.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports that some governments in the area are experiencing an upside to the economic downturn in the form of cheaper parkland. In Maryland, Montgomery County officials last month decided to buy a 53-acre ecological refuge at a deep discount from a developer who had long turned away government suitors. They are paying $8.75 million, roughly half of the $16.35 million price appraised in December. In Virginia, officials "were able to knock $2 million off what they paid for 1,100 acres of forested waterfront land in Stafford County, believed to be near the spot where Pocahontas was said to have been abducted by Jamestown settlers.

According to Judy Pedersen of the Fairfax County, VA, park authority, "We're finding people coming to us, particularly lending institutions, that are anxious for us to look at their properties...for us, it's a good time to buy." The Post notes that Fairfax officials sell long-term bonds to buy parkland, making parks less vulnerable during budget debates.

National Effort Cites City as a Leader in Making Play a Priority

Columbia has been recognized as one of 39 new communities across the nation to achieve the status of a “Playful City USA,” the non-profit organization KaBOOM! announced today. The city was one of three cited in Illinois and the only designee this year within the St. Louis metropolitan area.

Like other designees, such as Indianapolis and San Antonio, Columbia was selected for its dedication to play. Columbia used the Playful City USA application process to identify facilities, assess local resources, develop an action plan and create a citizen group—the Play Commission--to help direct activities. Excited about the opportunity to be nationally recognized, the Play Commission is using social network media such as a Facebook group and this blog to help gather public input and encourage involvement from the community.

“We’re excited about this prestigious designation and the serious work that the Play Commission is accomplishing to make our community a better place to live,” said Columbia Mayor Kevin Hutchinson. Support from local government is a key element for winning the Playful City designation.

Each of the 2009 Playful City USA communities demonstrated creative commitments to the cause of play in the areas of quantity, quality and access. Quality relates to the number of usable, open playspaces. Quality involves subjective factors that encourage repeated use and make playspaces engaging, exciting, interesting and fun. Access entails the ability to get to a playspace (roads, trails) and a lack of barriers to the playspace (cost, safety, traffic, locked gates, and equity).

“Our country is facing two monumental deficits: a lack of unstructured play among children and a lack of resources to address this very issue,” said Darell Hammond, KaBOOM! CEO and Co-founder. “Columbia took a stand and determined that the future of the community—its children—deserve a commitment to the cause of play. This is an investment in the future, and cities and towns across the country can replicate initiatives from this and other Playful City USA communities so that they too can bring play back into the lives of their children.”

KaBOOM! is a national non-profit organization that envisions a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America. Since 1995, KaBOOM! has used its innovative community-build model to bring together business and community interests to construct more than 1,600 new playgrounds, skate parks, sports fields and ice rinks across North America. KaBOOM! also offers a variety of resources, including an online community, free online trainings, grants, publications and the KaBOOM! National Campaign for Play, which includes Playful City USA and Playmakers – a national network of individual advocates for play.

Play is Serious Work

A pioneer in research on play, Stuart Brown says humor, games, roughhousing, flirtation and fantasy are more than just fun. Plenty of play in childhood makes for happy, smart adults--and keeping it up can make people smarter at any age.

Brown came to research play through research on murderers--unlikely as that seems--after he found a stunning common thread in killers' stories: lack of play in childhood. Since then, he's interviewed thousands of people to catalog their relationships with play, noting a strong correlation between success and playful activity.

Follow the links to hear Brown discuss the importance of play to human development and discover the National Institute for Play.

Columbia is Getting Serious About Play!

The City of Columbia--and its citizens--has joined the National Campaign for Play (organized by a national organization with the remarkably playful name of KaBOOM!). This movement has begun to combat such social ills as childhood obesity, attention deficit disorder and violence among our nation’s children. Early this year, members of City staff and Alderman Mary Ellen Niemietz determined that this campaign would provide an excellent framework for mobilizing what will eventually become a parks & recreation department.

This small group created an inventory of playspaces and worked with the Public Works Department to identify the financial resources dedicated to them. In April, they were successful in convincing the City Council to adopt Resolution 13-2008, endorsing the Playful City USA campaign and committing the City’s support to that effort; they also began assembling a list of likely candidates for the Play Commission, the community-based group that would be tasked with making this city-wide commitment to play make real accomplishments.

On May 19th, the Play Commission was officially created with adoption of Resolution 02-2009. The Play Commission will soon be hard at work finalizing its action plan, and this blog will chronicle its achievements. The community has also launched a Facebook group to help gather public input and encourage involvement.