CDC joins effort to get children to exercise

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention never had so much fun before. Colorful trucks are criss-crossing the nation to urge children to come out and get more exercise. Matt Sones with the “VERB” campaign says it’s not an acronym.He says VERB is something you do, he says, and it kind of describes the program to encourage physical activity among kids. The program’s website says that “Tweens,” children age 9 to thirteen, are the particular target of the VERB campaign that tackles their sedentary habits on the way to fighting the epidemic of obesity among youth today. Sones says half of all young kids age 12-21 don’t engage in any regular vigorous physical activity Sones says there are creative ways to encourage kids to get out and get exercise. They can participate in organized sports, like baseball and basketball, but also creative activities including walking to school or tossing a frisbee around, long as it’s physical activity that gets the heart rate up. Sones says 26-percent of American kids watch four hours or more of television a day. The VERB team brings its “AnyTour” to Des Moines this week at four locations including the riverside “Taste of Des Moines” Thursday and Friday.