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Physical Activity Tools and Resources
These tools and resources help families and communities better understand physical activity and how it relates to maintaining a healthy weight.
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- Parent Tips and Handbook
- Tools
- Physical Activity-Related Curricula
- Federal Guidelines and Additional Resources
Parent Tips and Handbook
Families Finding the Balance: A Parent Handbook 
(1.5 MB)
Offers practical tips to help parents help their families find the right balance of eating well and being physically active to maintain a healthy weight. Order the handbook online.
- Available in Spanish: ¡Nosotros Podemos! Familias Encontrando el Balance: Manual para Padres (1.9 MB). Order the Spanish-language version online.
Be Active and Have Fun (80 KB)
Try these tips from We Can! to help increase daily physical activity and have fun at the same time.
Energy Balance: ENERGY IN & ENERGY OUT (786 KB)
Use this worksheet to better understand how balancing energy in and energy out can help your family maintain a healthy weight.
Get Started! Eating Healthy and Moving More (91 KB)
Try these tips from We Can! to eat well and move more and see how easy taking small steps toward a healthier life can be.
We Can! Move More Every Day (94 KB)
Use this worksheet to record expected physical activity for your family including time, day of the week, and who will participate.
Tools
Portion Distortion Quiz
In addition to providing helpful information about how portions have changed over the past two decades, these quizzes also provide useful information about the amount of physical activity required to burn off the extra calories provided by today's portions.
Portion Distortion Slide Sets
NHLBI offers these slide sets for public use. The slides can be downloaded for use in computer slide shows, conventional slide presentations, or for online viewing via the Web site.
- Slide Set 1 | PowerPoint
(708 KB) | PDF 
(519 KB) - Slide Set 2 | PowerPoint
(1 MB) | PDF (561 KB)
Your Guide to Physical Activity and Your Heart
Know you should be more physically active, but are confused concerned, or just can’t get started? This guide developed by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute uses science-based information to help adults develop a safe and effective program of physical activity that can be sustained. All research indicates that regular, moderate physical activity will improve your heart health and how you look and fell. Find out about the importance of physical activity in reducing heart disease risk, and how to begin or maintain an activity program that’s right for you!
Take Charge of Your Health: A Guide For Teenagers
A booklet from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases that is designed to help teenagers take small and simple steps to keep a healthy weight. It provides basic facts about nutrition and physical activity, and offers practical tools to use in everyday life, from reading food labels and selecting how much and what foods to eat, to replacing TV time with physical activities.
Tips for Teens with Diabetes: Be Active!
This tip sheet provides useful information about diabetes and encourages teens to be more physically active in order to manage their disease for a long and healthy life.
Physical Activity-Related Curricula
We Can! offers four curricula that address physical activity.
- We Can! Energize Our Families: Parent Program is a multi-session program for parents and caregivers that includes one session dedicated to reducing screen time and increasing physical activity in youth.
- Media-Smart Youth: Eat, Think, and Be Active!® is a 10-lesson curriculum designed to help youth ages 11 to 13 understand the connections between media and health.
- CATCH® Kids Club is an evidence-based curriculum for after-school and community recreation settings, that includes lessons and activities to motivate heart-healthy behavior in children in grades K-5.
- SPARK™ PE and SPARK™ After School are evidence-based programs designed to promote physical activity in youth from K-12, and ages 5-14, respectively. They include curricula, training, equipment, and follow-up support components.
Federal Guidelines and Additional Resources
2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans
The Federal Government has issued its first-ever Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. They describe the types and amounts of physical activity that offer substantial health benefits to Americans, including adults and children.
CDC Physical Activity Web Page
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity provides online information about physical activity, including how much physical activity your children should get.
President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports
Learn more about physical activity on this website developed by the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, an advisory committee of volunteer citizens who advise the President through the Secretary of Health and Human Services about physical activity, fitness, and sports in America.
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