Doctors urged to push exercise for kids

The American Academy of Pediatrics says doctors need to make sure that their patients are getting enough exercise.

In a policy statement published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, the group said pediatricians should ask patients and parents at regular office visits how active they are, USA Today reported.

Boosting daily physical activity from infancy through the teen years is a key to fighting obesity and parents need to set good examples by also adopting active lifestyles, the statement said.

The policy says doctors should document how much time patients spend each day on sedentary activities and urge them to follow academy guidelines recommending no television for children under age 2 and no more than two hours a day of television, video games and other "screen time" for older children.

Also, schools should reinstate mandatory daily physical education from kindergarten through high school, the policy said

Copyright 2006 by United Press International