It's springtime, and that means mud pies, bug…

It's springtime, and that means mud pies, bug bites and scraped knees—if you're a preschooler. Or at least it used to. Health experts say small children should get at least an hour of physical activity a day. And studies have linked more time outside with motor development, better mental health, better behavior and, of course, more sun-supplied vitamin D. But a new study of nearly 9,000 U.S. children found that almost half of preschool-age children are not getting outside at least once a day with their parents. Girls were even less likely to be taken outside than boys, and some families studied not taking their young children outside more than a few times a month. The findings are in Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine. Kids who had daycare were subtly less likely to get the time outside with a parent. They were also unlikely to get the recommended minimum one-hour of outdoor activity while at daycare. So researchers recommended checking in with care providers about time outside. One hour out of 24 isn't too much to ask, right?