Family Activity Guide, Age-by-Age

Fit Families

Help us get the Personal Health Investment Today (PHIT) Act passed. The act would allow $1,000 of exercise-related costs to be paid for with pretax dollars every year, for a savings of up to $300!

A new study suggests that short bursts of exercise -- as little as 15 minutes -- can dramatically reduce your child's risk of Type 2 diabetes. (Thirty minutes a day or more of exercise is needed to reduce yours.) Build in workouts for your little ones -- and you -- with our get-moving guide.

Twelve minutes. That's how much more exercise slim kids get each day than overweight children do, according to a recent Swedish study of 8- to 11-year-olds. Those dozen extra minutes can burn 100+ calories, and that really adds up, says lead researcher Magnus Dencker, MD. Use our monthly get-moving guide to ensure that you and your kids get those 12 additional minutes -- and then some!

Warm weather means being more active, right? Well, not necessarily. A new study published in the American Journal of Public Health shows that young kids gain weight faster during summer vacation than during the school year. Surprised? So were we! A possible explanation: "Children don't have access to food and snacks in school the way they do at home," says researcher Doug Downey, a sociologist at Ohio State University. "And they may be spending more time inside playing video games." Here, tons of ideas to get them -- and you! -- moving.