Active Children = Healthy Children

Monday through Friday I embarked on my journey into work, and the train (as some of you know) gives me time to sit, reflect on whatever is on my mind, or observe those around me.  Lately, I’ve noticed an alarming amount of children who are entirely too heavy for their small frames and it pains me to realize that this is our future generation – those we place hope in, but will they be around to see their futures?  We are becoming increasingly more sedentary, less active, and it’s reflecting in our children.  Did you know that, noted in Keeping kids active: Ideas for parents an article found on CNN.com, that in the past 30 years childhood obesity has more than tripled? That there is an alarming increase of children with type-2 diabetes? Or that children who watch more than five hours of television (this includes video games) are eight times more likely to be obese versus the child who watches only two hours of TV a day?  Other causes for childhood obesity can also be blamed (according to some) on a multitude of things outside of the home (easy access fast food, schools with their glowing vending machines filed with sugary sweets, standard of living – the list could go on), but I’m a firm believer in taking personal responsibility as a parent when children are involved and something like childhood obesity can be avoided by making a few easy adjustments to the home-life routine. The article, “Keeping kids active: Ideas for parents,” offers suggestions as to how parents out there can help keep their child healthy and happy through keeping them active… 

1.       Setting a Good Example: If you’re active, your child will learn by example (this is, after all, how most children learn things). One suggestion is to take the stairs rather than the escalator or elevator while shopping.  Another is to park the car a distance from the entrance of the store so it causes you both to walk farther thereby burning some calories.  You could also take walks with your child in the late afternoon or evening.  If you make it into a game, like for example a treasure hunt, it makes the exercise fun rather than a chore or blatant exercise.  Also, family activities, like swimming, hiking, or camping, are highly recommended as a good way to show that exercise can be exciting and enjoyable to your child(ren).

2.       Limit the TV Time: It’s tempting to plop your child down in front of the television, the universal electronic baby-sitter, but the amount of television a child watches is directly related to childhood obesity in that the more your child watches television or playing video games, the more changes s/he has of gaining an unhealthy amount of weight.  Those are stationary activities rather than something that causes them to get up and move.  Try cutting down your child’s TV time to two hours each day and encourage them to go outside to play or if the yard isn’t available, try the local park.

3.       Promote Activity, not Exercise: What child wants to exercise? Not any that I know of.  The word ‘exercise’ is too adult and doesn’t sound fun even if you said it while smiling – if it was, wouldn’t more adults do so?  Anyhow, the idea of an activity – now that sounds promising.  A child wants to be interactive, wants to touch, see, smell, and create so by doing activities like nature hikes, or adventures to the park will keep them happy and active.  Sports isn’t thrown out as a means to keeping your child moving, but research that sport thoroughly before you dive into it with your child.  You’ll want to know how much of a commitment it will be, how much the equipment or participation in the sport of choice will cost, etc. For further information about the how you as a parent can prepare for your child’s sporting endeavors, check out the list of questions provided by “Keeping kids active: Ideas for Parents” (see link above).

4.       Start Young: Children, like most young in the animal world, are rambunctious and playful.  You will want to encourage that playfulness throughout their childhood and starting when they’re toddlers is an excellent way of continuing the habit.  Playing games like freeze tag, Red Rover, even hide and seek with your child gets them moving and gets them to exercise without knowing they’re exercising.  Plus it’s a fun way for you as their parent to get in that cardio you’ve been meaning to do for the last two months. You could also make chores (the bane of childhood) fun by creating games.  Raking the leaves becomes: how fast can you rake the leaves into a pile? The reward: jumping into the freshly made pile.  Basically, if you start them off active, the chance of a child remaining active (with your help of course) is greater than if they were left to their own devices.  Children need guidance and what better way to keep them fit than through fun activities with mom and dad?

I might be a tad preachy and totally off base (seeing how I don’t have a child of my own), but child obesity is becoming a more noticeable problem than we may want to admit.  We, as the adults, need to protect them from that which harms them, isn’t that what parenting is about?  The first step is acknowledging that “yes, this is a problem and a difficult one at that”, the second step is the willingness to change and solve that problem.  It doesn’t need to be giant advances, just the small everyday ones will do and with those changes, I know that we’ll start to see a difference in our youth.

Comments

[Cari Corbet-Owen from ditch-diets-live-light.com]

Great article. I think you've hit the nail on the head. What we've forgotten is that as long as we can make something fun - then children will keep doing it. They have always loved to play, we need to find ways to stop eroding their natural love of movement. In my book The Mind over Fatter programme I call exercise Body-Fun and in my second book, The Joy-Filled Body, I call it Body-Play.