ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Wednesday was Golisano Children’s Hospital’s annual Dyson Community Health Symposium.

Keynote speaker Dr. Susan Gasparino says whether or not a child exercises reflects more than their willingness to participate — she says their social and physical environment play a role too.

“There are communities that play in different ways, right? And so one of the biggest things that we have been advocating for, for healthy kids, is to make sure when you are trying to advance physical activity in your neighborhood, making sure that it doesn’t come from a white-centric paradigm, right? Of ‘these are the only ways you can play,’ or ‘the way that you culturally play or traditionally play doesn’t matter,” said Jenn Beideman, director of Whole Child Health Advocacy at Common Ground Healthi Kids.

Organizers say the goal is to promote physical fitness opportunities for all children.