I am on the board of directors for our track club in Chattanooga, and part of the problem, is that most races are not geared toward youth. Almost all of our runs have a one mile fun run, bbut there are no prizes for the kids. I actually had a 10 yr old pass me in a recent race that was an 8K, and a brutal one. I urged him on. A lot of our kids would rather do less intense forms of exercise, like press buttons on a game controller and let the game character do the work. We are working to institute a youth director position. It costs money and we just don't have enough right now. I just don't understand the thinking of our local governemnts, on one hand they complain our children are suffering from obesity yet they have horrible cafeteria meals, and soda and junk food machines everywhere to raise more money for the schools on kickbacks. I have addressed this issue, and there just aren't the needed resources. We spend more money on drug rehab, free medical care, and criminal justice then on the future of our society. It sickens me to even think about what the future holds for us. People are hoping that medicine will be able to fix them when old and broken and obese instead of preventing it in the first place.

I agree with beerpace that encouragement from parents goes a long way. When I am at 5K races I see families registered to run together. The parents have set an example that exercise is good and the children have followed that lead. I will encourage my daughter as she gets older (currently 2yrs old) to try different activities and choose those that are most appealing to her,if one of them happens to be running then I will be happy to support her. For now she will enjoy our runs together from the comfort of her jog stroller.

First let me say that as an elementary school teacher I am sad at the loss of physical education in our school system. Mostly due to the stress emphasized on the core subjects(Language Arts and Math). During PE I have to really push some of my students to get out there and stretch, run, and play. I am also scared for the number of inactive children I see. Children with health issues such as high blood pressure, ADHD (I believe some of it could be due to diet and activity levels of the children), and eating disorders to name a few. What is really startling to me is the number of parents who have no idea what their children are eating throughout the day. Both from what is being served at the schools and the food brought from home. (I have confiscated more than a couple bags of candy pulled out at breakfast recess, and called parents to let them know what their child planned on eating.)
I believe there are other factors to add to why we do not see many children running. For example, I did not become an "athlete" until I was in my mid/late twenties. I always thought the term athlete was reserved for the elite group, the ones with natural talent. I wonder if that is why we don't see as many children out there running, they and/or their parents believe a "runner" is a certain size and shape. I go to runs and see all sizes, shapes, ages and realize how great it is to be a participant with such an eclectic group of people. Another reason may be that many people believe that unless you plan on being competitive and have a chance at winning you should not consider the sport, or yourself as a participant in that sport. Instead the emphasis should be on how you feel while/after participating. I believe runners are the purist form of athlete, since Life Long Runners run only because they simply love to run. Once our children learn to enjoy physical activity, then we will see more children running. We need to recruit more children of all ability levels into our school athletic programs. As parents we need to expose our children to many different types of physical activities. As coaches we need to find ways to make our programs unique and attractive to the students.

I am so proud of my boys (twins 12 yrs). They are both runners and football players. I was never a very active person, never played any sports when I was younger.

My kids inspired me to be more active. They motivate me to take up running. It's only been my first week, but they got me started. Now at 34 yrs, I finally found a sport to get me going and keep me active.