This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of LiveWell Colorado. The opinions and text are all mine.
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a very important topic – childhood obesity in Colorado. In that post, which you can read here, I talked about some of the challenges that kids in Colorado face when trying to live an active lifestyle and I also invited all of you to sign the “No More 24” pledge and join the movement to change our communities, schools and our state. If you haven’t had the chance to do that yet, I hope that you will today by clicking here.
Since I wrote that post, I have made an extra effort to look for different barriers that keep our kids from getting out and being active. I mentioned in the first post that in the city where we live there are lots of great parks and the schools do put a pretty good emphasis on physical education and activity. I am grateful that we have that blessing, but there is still so much more that can be done.
Unfortunately, here in our city there as been an increase in large accidents on our roads. There have been two serious accidents within the past month that occurred within a couple of minutes of our house. The other night just after we had brought our boys in for the night, we heard a huge truck speeding right around the corner from our house. We were pretty concerned about that because there are so many kids in our neighborhood that are outside playing in the afternoon and early evening. As a result, we are hesitant to let our kids play in the front yard because we are concerned for their safety.
So what is the answer to this danger? I really wish I knew the answer! The only thing that I can think of is to make sure that we are doing everything that we can to make the streets safe for our kids. That means driving safely and within the speed limit and encouraging others to do the same. In addition, I think it is important that we have enough of a police presence to make sure that we can feel safe as well. I am a big supporter of police and everything that they do to keep us safe. I am also aware that they probably don’t have the resources to be checking all of the roads all the time to crack down on careless driving. That being said, this is an issue that should be addressed and I plan on bringing it up whenever I get a chance.
So my question for you (and I would love for you to comment on this below) is what barriers do you see in your communities that are preventing kids from being active and getting the exercise that they need and what can you and your community do to change that?
No matter what the answer to that question is, it is important to remember that we are all in this together and it will take a coordinated effort by all of us to make a difference. Please let me know your thoughts in the comments below and let’s work together to help our kids and our communities.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of LiveWell Colorado. The opinions and text are all mine.