title: Exercise and Children's Health: A Little Counseling Can Pay Lasting Dividends.
abstract: Regular exercise is an important health maintenance strategy for children and adolescents: It facilitates weight control, helps strengthen bones, and can improve cardiovascular risk factors. Mental health may also benefit. An active childhood may also lay the groundwork for a lifetime of fitness. Physicians are in an important position to assess children's weight status and activity levels during a routine physical exam. And, with some simple recommendations to children and parents, they can play a key role in helping young patients find and maintain activities they enjoy, while keeping the risk of injury to a minimum.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ganley
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sherman