Morrisville Active Kids Strategic Plan

Active Kids Strategic Plan

Section 1. Introduction & Purpose The Town of Morrisville, like many communities in the Triangle and elsewhere in North Carolina’s rapidly growing metropolitan areas, has opportunities to improve the health of its youth population. There is growing public demand for greenways and parks, as well as various creative programs aimed at engaging youth, connecting them with nature, and providing initiatives to counterbalance increased screen time and an increasingly overweight population. Morrisville has a solid track record of planning for parks and recreation as well as active transportation facilities. As the community has grown, so has its capacity to meet the demands of its population. The Town pursued a Wake County Healthy Communities grant through the John Rex Foundation to conduct this Active Kids Strategic Plan. In the grant application, the Town referenced its “continuing investments in pedestrian, bicycle, and park infrastructure [that] provide the Town of Morrisville with a great opportunity to support more active lifestyles for children in the community.” Morrisville sought to confirm this direction and prioritize opportunities for action. The Action Steps for Implementation, identified in Section 5 of this document, represent those initiatives identified through a process of discovery and engagement with stakeholders that occurred throughout the summer and fall of 2016. Research shows that an active and engaged youth population not only leads to healthier children, but also healthier families and adults. The graph below is from Youth Thrive’s Wake County Y outh Well-Being Profile (2015) and indicates that student levels of physical activity decline sharply from 6th grade through high school. It shows that physical activity rates among students drops dramatically as they transition from elementary school students to middle and high school

“After 20 minutes of physical activity students tested better in reading, spelling & math and were more likely to read above their grade level.”

- Active Living Research

What We Know: % of school age youth who do not meet recommended physical activity guidelines

Surveys from Wake County Public Schools attempt to understand how much physical activity students get on a weekly basis. The chart above shows the percent of students, by grade, who have less than 60 minutes per day of physical activity for fewer than 5 days a week. What is happening in Wake County is similar to other areas of the United States: Physical activity rates fall dramatically as youth approach high school age. This is due to reduction in time spent in school on physical activity as well as decreases in participation in organized sports. We heard from Morrisville youth that the availability of recreational programs for middle school and high school age students was a major concern, as oftentimes the only organized sports are available are school teams.

April 25, 2017

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