Nineteen restaurant chains are adding more healthful choices to their children's menus this month. Through the National Restaurant Association's new Kids LiveWell program, some 15,000 participating restaurants will offer kids' choices that meet these nutritional recommendations:

• At least one full meal (main dish, side dish, and drink) that contains 600 calories or less; includes two or more servings of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein and/or low-fat dairy; and limits sodium, fats and sugar.
• A second side dish, totaling 200 calories or less, that includes a serving of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein or low-fat dairy (with limits on fats, sugars and sodium).

This is progress, although 600 calories is still a lot for a child, and these new healthy offerings will have to compete with the usual pizza, chicken fingers, and mac and cheese commonly found on kids' menus.

The first group of participating restaurants is: Au Bon Pain, Bonefish Grill, Burger King, Burgerville, Carrabba's Italian Grill, Chevys Fresh Mex, Chili's Grill & Bar, Corner Bakery Cafe, Cracker Barrel, Denny's, El Pollo Loco, Friendly's, IHOP, Joe's Crab Shack, Outback Steakhouse, Silver Diner, Sizzler, T-Bones Great American Eatery and zpizza.

Related:

• How to Pack a Healthy Lunch
• Healthy Snack Suggestions
• Why Kids Need Water
• Bean Appetit: Hip and Healthy Ways to Have Fun with Food

If you're new to your area, travel regularly with your children, or are the de facto events planner for your crowd of friends, consider the Playgrounds! app from Kaboom! and Parents magazine. You can use the app, available for iPhone, iPod, and iPad, to find playgrounds near your current location (or whatever zip code or address you enter). Information about the playgrounds varies, since it's entered by Kaboom! users. Most entries include a photo or two and a star rating. The app lets you locate the play area on a map and share it via Facebook or email. You can add a playground if you know of one that isn't included on the app yet.

You can also use the app to plan a play date and invite friends to attend (again via Facebook, email, or another social media platform). This part is a little tricky. While it's easy to find play dates that are already scheduled, in order to set up your own you have to start by first choosing a playground, then selecting "add play date."

The app also suggests some activities you can do at the playground. Right now, there are just a few each for toddlers, little kids, and bigger kids. I think this section could be expanded significantly--here are a few of my suggested outdoor activities.

This app is free to download thanks to a sponsorship from KEEN, Inc. If you try it,  let me know what you think!

_{Photo: Catherine Holecko}

We seem to hear news reports about childhood obesity all the time, but are we getting the right messages about how to prevent and treat this growing problem? Colleen Barry, PhD, of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and colleagues investigated. Their study, recently published in the journal Pediatrics, analyzed a sample of news stories on childhood obesity, found in 18 different news sources over 10 years.

The researchers found a significant difference between TV and newspaper reports. In the newspaper, you're more likely to read about system-level problems and solutions, such as changes in schools, neighborhoods, and the food and beverage industry. But on TV, the emphasis is more often on behavioral changes--steps individuals should take to limit obesity, such as changing children's diets and adding exercise.

The study raises the concern that TV advertisers could be influencing media coverage of this public health problem. Over the course of the 10-year study, researchers noted a marked downturn in mentions of obesity prevention strategies that involve the food and beverage industry, such as new taxes, vending machine restrictions, or advertising regulations.

While kids and parents absolutely must bear the responsibility for their own health, I think it's a myth that they can do so on their own. They need help from society at large too, and news coverage should reflect that.

In 2008, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services published a set of guidelines on physical activity for Americans. Now the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) has followed up with recommendations on quantity and quality of exercise for healthy adults.

The basic recommendation--adults should get 150 minutes of moderate physical activity per week--remains, but the ACSM has added specifics on four specific types of exercise (cardiorespiratory, resistance, flexibility, and neuromotor). Here's the breakdown:

• Cardiorespiratory exercise: 30-60 minutes of moderate activity, 5 days a week; or 20-60 minutes of vigorous activity, 3 days a week. Short sessions (at least 10 minutes) count toward daily accumulation.

• Resistance exercise: Work each major muscle group 2 or 3 times per week, with 48 hours between sessions. Use a variety of exercises and equipment, and perform 2 to 4 sets with each to build strength.

• Flexibility exercise: Stretch 2 or 3 days a week to improve range of motion. Hold stretches for 10 to 30 seconds and repeat 2 to 4 times, for a total of 60 seconds for each stretch.

• Neuromotor exercise: 20 to 30 minutes a day. This type of exercise may also be called "functional fitness" and involves both motor skills (such as balance, agility, and coordination) and proprioceptive training. Yoga and tai chi are both examples of neuromotor exercise.

The ACSM also notes that exercise can't make up for a lifestyle that is largely sedentary; that is a health risk on its own. If you sit at a desk all day, make a point to stand up and walk around frequently.

How close are you to meeting the ACSM recommendations?