We know childhood and adolescence is a period when regular physical activity is critical for healthy growth and development, but today America's youth are less active than ever before.

This Friday, the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP) and the President's Council on Fitness, Sports, & Nutrition (PCFSN) will release the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans Midcourse Report: Strategies to Increase Physical Activity Among Youth at the Partnership for a Healthier America Summit in Washington, D.C.

Friday, March 8, 2013 9:45 - 11:00 AM EST

Burnham Room | Grand Hyatt Hotel | Washington, DC

The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans (PAG) Midcourse Report comes five years after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published the first-ever PAG in 2008, describing the types and amounts of physical activity Americans ages 6 years and older need for overall health.

The PAG Midcourse Report builds on the Guidelines by highlighting intervention strategies for increasing physical activity in youth ages 3 to 17 years, identified in the current literature using a review-of-reviews approach.

The report provides implementation and research recommendations for leaders within five key settings that provide opportunities for youth to be active for 60 minutes or more each day:

• School
• Preschool and childcare
• Community
• Family and home
• Primary health care

Download the PAG Midcourse Report and other materials at www.health.gov/PAGuidelines/Midcourse.

What are you doing in your home, school, organization or community to help kids be more active? We invite you to share your experiences and ideas.

It has been two years since First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative prompted families, individuals and organizations to take their health into their own hands. The campaign has given American families the motivation to live a healthier life through physical activity and nutrition, and continue the fight against childhood obesity.

Along with Let's Move!, the National Physical Activity Plan, Exercise is Medicine^(R)(EIM), Childhood Obesity Awareness Month and countless other initiatives are strengthening the movement. Each of these initiatives brings something unique. Exercise is Medicine Month in May is the special recognition month for EIM and a time for everyone to idenfity, emphasize and celebrate the valuable health benefits of exercise on a national scale.

In 2012, American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) members were involved in the Let's Move Faith & Communities' Communities on the Move Video Challenge. The popular choice award went to a video called "100 Citizens: Role Models for the Future." 100 Citizens promotes the message that ending childhood obesity begins at home with the family.

USA Today's Family Fitness Challenge, which launched this month, paired six families with fitness experts to help them reach their health goals within four months. While sharing stories about their progress, they will also provide tips, tools and guidance everyone can use to start living a healthier life.

Along with these programs and initiatives, we continue to learn more every day from new research about exercise, nutrition, physiology and motivation. Our programs and policies are more effective than ever because of our growing base of information. From molecular-level, basic science to studies of group interaction and epidemiology, new knowledge is providing a solid base of evidence to underpin our efforts.

How do your efforts complement the work of Let's Move!, the National Physical Activity Plan and other initiatives?

The First Lady's Let's Move! initiative has been embraced by individuals and organizations across the country, and has helped to raise awareness of the importance of healthy behaviors like physical activity and healthy eating. It has also generated additional engagement across all sectors - public and private - in making commitments to help ensure that this generation of children, and those that follow, grow up in environments where the healthy choice is the easy choice. Through the impact of the initiative, we see that Mrs. Obama's role as the First Lady has truly allowed her to influence the daily lives of thousands.

YMCAs across the nation work every day to support the principles of Let's Move!. This work is in the DNA of our organization as a nonprofit committed to youth development, healthy living and social responsibility. For example, traditional Y programs like youth sports, camps and aquatics all engage children in physical activity and contribute to meeting the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. Other programs and activities, such as YMCA's Healthy Kids Day and Healthy Family Home, send healthy messages home with families. The two programs are similar to the Let's Move! initiative in that they support children and families in a variety of ways,including encouraging families to play each day, get outside, eat healthier, and connect with each other.

In addition, Ys across the country are working with other leaders to drive strategies that ensure communities are rich in opportunities for physical activity and healthy eating. The Y's Healthier Communities Initiatives - REACH and Community Transformation Grants (funded by CDC) and Statewide Pioneering Healthier Communities (funder by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation) - now reach more than 200 communities nationwide. As a result of this work, many more communities have safe places for kids to play, more miles of walking trails, safe routes for children to bike to school, and policies to support physical activity and healthy eating throughout the school day.

Ys are also transforming their own their own environments to support healthy behaviors. Just over a year ago, we made a committment to the First Lady and Partnership for a Healthier America to adopt healthy eating and physical activity standards in Y early childhood and afterschool programs over the next five years; Ys are working toward that goal now. Many Ys are also adopting similar guidelines in other programs including sports, aquatics, membership, camps, and family programs.

All of these initiatives within the Y support the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, as well as Let's Move! goals. This year's anniversary of Let's Move! is a good time to reflect on how we are contributing to the effort to improve the health of our nation's children. What are you doing or your organization doing to improve healthy behaviors among kids?