EXERCISE

limit him,” she said. “I have to remind him that, as his parent, I’m the one who has to put those parameters in place.”

A new study by Nationwide Children’s Hospital researchers indicates that about 55 percent of youngsters get far less exercise than Gary. And others get too much.

The research, presented last month at an American Academy of Pediatrics conference in Orlando, Florida, showed that only about 5 percent of children seen at outpatient pediatric sports-medicine clinics were getting the federally recommended amount of physical activity — at least one hour every day.

Among the other children, 50 percent were less active, and 5 percent participated in no physical activity. The remaining 40 percent were getting either too much exercise, or too much on certain days and too little on others.

The researchers said the numbers indicate a need for physicians to screen for physical activity just as they would a vital sign, akin to height or weight. Doctors should ask families how many minutes of activity youngsters get, discuss what’s enough or too much and, when necessary, write “prescriptions” for activity, ideally in specific programs, the researchers said.

“A lot of physicians talk about physical activity, but making a patient give them a number and then talking about a number, I think, is where that next step should be,” said Julie Ten-year-old Gary George III talks with Dr. Steven Cuff of Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s Sports Medicine team during an appointment at Children’s Westerville Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Center.

Young, a research assistant in Nationwide Children’s pediatric-sports medicine division who conducted the study with Dr. Amy Valasek.

Valasek, who works in sports medicine at Nationwide Children’s, has used physical-activity screening for about three years and said parents are responsive.

“Exercise is medicine” initiatives for adults need to be implemented at the pediatric level, she said. She pointed to an Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center program through which adults are screened for activity levels by primary-care physicians and, when necessary, are sent to an eight-week program that helps people who are sedentary, injured or apprehensive learn how to be active.

Programs for children should be fun — not exercise as punishment, Young said. Those who are active as youths tend to remain active as adults.

“We want kids being active and moving so they can learn

motor-skill development, so they can gain confidence, they can have less depression and anxiety, have better cognitive performance,” she said.

Too much activity, however, can lead to injury, said Valasek, who also is an assistant pediatrics professor at Ohio State’s College of Medicine. Some of her patients report as much as 20 to 25 hours of activity per week; that’s a concern because chronic injury and pain will inevitably lead children to stop being active.

The study reviewed patient charts to determine the selfreported activity level of 7,822 children ages 5 to 18 from March 2015 to March 2018.

Gary’s shoulder was treated at Nationwide Children’s, where his mother was told that the injury probably was due to a combination of overuse, his mechanics and the intensity with which he throws. He stayed active throughout treatment but was told not to throw.