There's a new, troubling divide emerging between rich kids and poor kids in America: the exercise chasm.

Three trends to watch, via The New York Times:

1. Sports participation among kids from high-income families — earning $105,000 or more a year — was 70%, per a 2020 CDC study. But participation was 51% among kids from middle-income homes, and just 31% among children from low-income households.
2. Schools aren't bridging the gap. The nonprofit Physical Activity Alliance gave America's schools a D- for fitness offerings in 2022.
3. Meanwhile, the private sports industry for kids from wealthier families is booming, growing from $3.5 billion in 2010 to $28 billion in 2021.

Why it matters: Kids' physical activity has been linked to higher academic achievement, elevated self-esteem, and reduced stress and anxiety, Axios' Kendall Baker writes.

• Sports participation is also correlated to less drug and tobacco use in high school, The Atlantic reports. And it's linked to healthier body image among young girls.

The bottom line: Physical activity is important for all kids to thrive, but as public schools cut back on offerings, the joy of sport is increasingly becoming a privilege of the rich.

It's not just playing sports that's good for us, watching the big moments unfold live or on television also feeds the soul.

• Yesterday, we asked you to share standout sports memories with us. And today's newsletter closes with one of the responses we received.

My memory was Sunday night watching the Iowa women's basketball team make the Final Four. We watched with three generations of our family. My mom didn't even have the opportunity to play basketball when she started high school. And thanks in large part to the Hawkeyes' star, Caitlin Clark, my 11-year-old daughter is now seeing that women's sports can be the main event.