Childhood Obesity and Physical Fitness: Get Your Kids Out to Play ...

If you are a parent, you?ve probably already heard or read this quote:

Kids should get at least sixty minutes of physical activity each day.

This number comes from many sources, including the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); and though families are busy between work, weekend outings and squeezing in homework, dinner and bedtime routines, it?s critical we think of physical activity for our children as being just as essential to health as eating a good diet and brushing teeth.

We wouldn?t be okay with our kids not brushing their teeth for days on end; we should not be okay with them skipping physical activity, either.?

What does physical activity do for our kids? It moves mountains! Being active:

• Increases energy levels
• Decreases the risk of type-2 diabetes
• Helps kids handle emotional and mental stresses better
• Helps promote stronger bones and muscles
• Reduces the chances of obesity

The CDC notes in one population-based sample of children ranging in age from 5- to 17, 70% of obese youth had at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

This means obese children are more likely to suffer high blood pressure and? high blood sugar, which in turn makes it more likely they will suffer from heart disease, heart attacks and strokes.

And from the LetsMove.gov website, this:

If we don?t solve this problem (obesity), one third of all children born in 2000 or later will suffer from diabetes at some point in their lives.

One out of three children. The statistic is frightening.

We have to teach our children how to eat healthy foods and how to get out and move for at least one hour each day. If we don?t teach them this, who will?

It all begins at home.

So how do we fit sixty minutes of physical activity into an otherwise already full schedule?

Well, consider this: kids spend on average 7.5 hours each day (yes, each DAY!) staring at some type of screen: computer, phone, television. If they have that much time to text, play video games and watch a few shows, they have enough time to go outside and run circles around the backyard.

As parents, it?s our responsibility to make our children get out and go.

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You might:

• Enroll your kids in an after school program such as karate, gymnastics, soccer or other, which is particularly beneficial for homes where parents work full time
• Enroll your kids in a county or school provided sports program, like basketball, soccer or swimming
• Send the kids outside with friends to play in the backyard (football, tag, hide and seek, jump rope, duck duck goose)
• Get outside with them! Who says your kids need to do this one hour of activity alone? Use this time to pull on your own sneakers and take a walk, a jog, or a bike ride. Not only will you both feel better, you?ll be getting some quality time in with the kids
• I love this tip from Letsmove.gov, the organization created by First Lady Michelle Obama to get kids active and healthy: Give your kids toys that increase the chances of physical activity, like jump ropes and hula hoops
• Play an active game with your kids, such as tag or Frisbee
• Go swimming
• Take a stroll around the block after dinner
• Hike nearby parks on the weekends

Another idea: Have them sign up for the President?s Challenge. Any kid six years or older can join and commit to getting active. Kids track their fitness goals and earn certificates upon completion. Parents and schools can participate, too!

Or you can run your own family challenge. Determine what it is you want your children to do and, specifically, what they may want to do. Let your child have some say in the activity. You might give a choice (bike ride or walk the block after dinner). The more power they have to control what they are doing, the more likely they will want to participate.

Create a log and have your child log in the hours they spend being physically active each day.

At the end of benchmarks you set (five hours, ten hours, fifteen hours, a three mile walk, a four mile bike ride, a soccer game), reward your child (with something other than ice cream, of course!). Even better, let them pick the reward.

Make this a family activity. The kid who sees a parent living a healthy life is much more likely to live a healthy life, so plan your own goals (lose 5 pounds, fit in thirty minutes of exercise each day, start jogging, finish a 5K) in the family challenge. Your children don?t have to match what you do; as long as they see you being active, and as long as you make a point to be active with them at least several times a week, they will pick up on the idea that physical fitness is both fun and healthy.

And by making fitness fun, you?re increasing the chances your child will get off of the couch and go.

How do you get your kids involved in being physically active? What are your challenges, and what are some solutions?

Source: http://mamamarathoner.com/2012/08/01/kids-and-physical-activity-how-you-can-fit-in-60-minutes-of-activity-each-day-to-fight-childhood-obesity/

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