Guidebook to getting kids active outdoors debuts in April

A new guidebook to getting kids active in the great outdoors addresses one of America’s top concerns.

“Outdoor Parents, Outdoor Kids – A Guide to Getting Your Kids Active in the Great Outdoors” by award-winning author Eugene Buchanan extends parents a helping hand, or set of training wheels, in getting their kids active outside. Included are informative and entertaining look at biking, camping, swimming, paddling, fishing, skiing, hiking, climbing and other outdoor pursuits. Proceeds from the soft cover book, available in stores this April, benefit the Outdoor Foundation’s efforts to grow youth participation in the outdoors.

Today, more than ever, the game is on to get kids off video games and into the great outdoors. Childhood obesity statistics are staggering – the rates have tripled in the past 30 years, affecting nearly a third of our nation’s children and costing the U.S. $150 billion every year to treat it. It’s epidemic enough to prompt President Barack Obama to appoint a Childhood Obesity Task Force and First Lady Michelle to launch a foundation to fight it.

Participation numbers are no less encouraging. The Outdoor Foundation reports that youth participation in outdoor recreation has dropped nearly 17 percent over the last three years. Additionally, it finds that most youth are introduced to outdoor activities through their families. “Sadly, fewer youth are heading outdoors each year,” says the Foundation’s Christine Fanning. “The U.S. is facing an unprecedented public health problem…reconnecting youth with the outdoors is critical to the health of future generations and our natural landscapes.”

These figures and more are why The Heliconia Press is proud to release the book that has garnered early and widespread accolades. Richard Louv, author of best-selling Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, calls it “An excellent beginner’s guide to help parents instill in their kids a love of outdoor activities.” Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club, calls it “an important contribution to the work of connecting our children to the outdoors.” And award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns says, “Nowadays, too many of us, especially our children, suffer from a Nature deficit. This wonderful book will go a long way toward remedying that.”

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About Eugene Buchanan: A former reporter for the Denver Business Journal and 14-year editor-in-chief of Paddler magazine, Eugene Buchanan has written about the outdoors for more than 25 years, from covering the X Games for ESPN.com to working for NBC at the Beijing Olympics. With freelance articles published in the New York Times, Men’s Journal, Sports Afield, Outside, National Geographic Adventure, Forbes Life and other publications, the Fellow member of the Explorer’s Club spearheaded the Outdoor Industry Association’s Outdoor Idols campaign, honoring teens’ accomplishments in the outdoors. His first book, Brothers on the Bashkaus, was released by Fulcrum Publishing in 2007.

About The Heliconia Press: The Heliconia Press is one of the leading outdoor book publishing, TV and video production companies in North America. Info: www.helipress.com.