How to inspire active children

In the midst of a school year, it's hard to help kids find time for fitness. Dr. Adam Shafran and Lee Kantor offer a bounty of suggestions in "35 Things to Know to Raise Active Kids" (Turner, $10). A few of their suggestions: Keep active rituals. Developing regularly scheduled activities elevates fitness into an opportunity for family bonding. Try post-supper walks around the neighborhood, which encourages conversation as well as exercise, weekend bike rides that wind up with a picnic, or walking to a weekend breakfast.

Stage competitive housework. Hey, the chores have to be done, so why not have some fun? Write down the chores and put them in a bowl; let everybody in the family select one. Then set a time limit; the whole family cleans as fast as they can for the allotted time. Setting a buzzer adds drama. For larger tasks, such as raking leaves, separate the family into teams. (Small prizes can't hurt.)

Have a treasure hunt. Create your own or participate in existing events. Don't limit this to the family; invite your children's friends to participate, too.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Limit TV time Parents should limit their young children's screen time to two hours a day, according to pediatricians. This recommendation has been in place for many years, but parents and child caregivers don't seem to be catching on. A new study finds that the average preschool-age child is exposed to twice the recommended amount.

Screen time consists of TV, DVDs, computers and video games. The researchers examined data from nearly 9,000 preschool-age children who were part of a study that began in 2001 and included interviews with parents and child-care providers.

On average, children were exposed to four hours of screen time per day -- with 3.6 hours of that time coming from exposures at home. Children enrolled in Head Start, a day-care program for economically disadvantaged children, watched an average of 4.2 hours a day, but most was at home.