Why and How Babies and Toddlers Should Get Moving

By Julia E. Sweet





Is Your Baby a Couch Potato?

You stop by your baby’s daycare provider on your way to the grocery store. It’s 10 a.m. and all is well: the babies are nestled in their swings, quietly rocking back and forth. The next day, you swing by the center at noon to drop off a sweater in anticipation of a chilly afternoon and the infants are all securely strapped into their feeding tables. Friday, you decide to scoot out of work early and pick up your daughter at 3 p.m. Everything seems under control – all the infants are sitting in their baby bouncer seats, watching the mobiles overhead. You feel relieved to see how safe and mostly tranquil the children are for those eight hours. There is no reason for concern – or is there?

There is, according to the National Association for Sports and Physical Education (NASPE), a nonprofit organization that works to educate the public about the importance of physical education for all children and youth. Alarmed by the rise of the sedentary lifestyle, the NASPE recently published the first-ever physical activity guidelines for infants and toddlers.


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