New Software Developed By ‘Playorities’ Helps Pediatricians Link Kids to After-School Fitness Programs

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What do park systems, pediatricians, health insurance and a new mobile app, all have in common? A need to get connected!

The team over at Playorities has been working to develop software that would link all of the above in efforts to get more kids outdoors and playing.

“We are engaging pediatricians, the Parks and Rec community, and parents and kids to help them stay focused on getting active at least 45 minutes a day,” Playorities co-founder Allison Diego said in a blog post from The Post.

Diego, a former assistant director with the Miami-Dade County Parks and Recreation Department, strongly believes that part of the solution to ending childhood obesity involves the use of after-school programs which reward kids for being active. She also believes in the power of park prescriptions (park Rx).

If pediatricians had a way of linking their pediatric patients to after-school fitness programs, and if parents of low-income families could be reimbursed for signing their child up for such programs, according to Diego, then more kids would be healthier.

Although Playorities is an on-line app,  it’s purpose is to really  understand the shared interests of parents, pediatricians, parks departments and insurance companies in making kids healthier. As an employee with the Parks and Rec department, Diego saw that many parties who were interested in seeing kids stay healthy could not find an efficient way to stay connected and collaborate with each other. That’s where Playorities comes it.

Rather than reinvent a new system, Diego says that the app will provide rewards for kids, in an environment that already exists, so Playorities will develop its own avatar program that connects kids to games.

Diego said: “if you give children a goal to attain and then you give them a benefit, which in their case is rewards. It’s being champion of their park. It’s the trophy, the free iPad or iPhone. So there’s lots of opportunities for them as winners.”

In addition to the rewards, the app seeks to aid pediatricians with locating after-school programs and parks for park prescriptioins.

Read more about this here.