Getting Your Kids To Be Active
February 18th, 2008 | by Jeniffer |According to Canada’s Physical Activity Guide, more than half of those aged 10-14 years in Canada are not as active as they should be for their own health.
This inactivity can impact their growth and development. It is also a contributor to weight gain and obesity. Between the years 1981 and 1996, the occurrence of obesity in Canada’s youth tripled for both sexes.
This inactivity, carried into adulthood, has a major impact on long term health.
Obesity increases the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, colon cancer, depression, and may lead to an early death.
Exercise builds strong bones, which helps ward off osteoporosis.
It also helps maintain flexibility, stretches muscles, promotes good posture and balance, strengthens their heart, and increases their self esteem.
Ways to encourage your kids to get active:
-turn off the television.
If kids aren’t watching television, they will be forced to find something else to do. To ensure this is something active,
-turn off video games and computers
Although there are some games which can be interactive physically, and a little activity may be better than absolutely nothing, engaging in physical activity for a minimum of 30 minutes per day generally means no electronic toys allowed.
Note: only do this with doctor’s approval. Depending on the condition of the child, they may be required to start with much smaller bouts of activity, such as 5 or 10 minutes, and build up from there. Always get the doctor’s approval first. Heart disease and other factors are not unheard of in children.
-Canada’s Physical Activity Guide recommends gradually increasing the period of activity, after getting the doctor’s approval, over a period of five months. They suggest simultaneously reducing the amount of time children spend on watching television. Their suggestion is to increase gradually the duration of physical activity, until the child is active for a total of 90 minutes per day.
This gradual increase should include both moderate activities, such as walking, skating and riding a bicycle, as well as more vigorous activities such as running, or playing sports.
-Be an active role model.
Modelling the type of behaviour you wish your kids to mirror is healthy for you, as well as encouraging healthy patterns of behaviour for them. Don’t be active just because you want to lose weight, and be aware of your attitude towards the activities which you choose to be involved in.
Showing enthusiasm and a positive attitude toward something, including being physically active, can go a long way towards encouraging your children to feel the same.
-Emphasize the positives, including that once they are in good enough condition, they will be more able to participate in sports and outdoor activities with other children, thus benefiting their social life. As well, they will gain more confidence, just be discovering they can do something they did not realize they could do, they will feel more energetic, less lethargic, and will be doing wonders for their health while having fun.
Some suggestions:
-Walk. Go for a nice family trek after dinner, or walk with friends.
Walk around the block, to the mall, to your friend’s house.
Take the family dog along, to help him stay in shape too!
-In the winter, get out your toboggan and find some hills. You can also ski or ice skate.
-Find a place with a pool such as a recreation center, and go for a swim.
-Go bowling.
-Take an active class, such as a dance class or a yoga class.
-Put on your favorite music and just move.
-Put your child in a program which is physically active, and which is interesting to them.
Other Notes of Caution:
As well as being sure to get the approval of your doctor before beginning any physical activity program, be sure that for any sport or activity that you involve your children in, they have the proper protective gear. Bicycling requires a bike helmet, skating requires a hockey helmet, horseback riding also requires a helmet, all for obvious safety reasons.
Some activities may require shin pads, elbow pads, etc, and some sports require a sort of body armor (such as ATVing, for which you should have a helmet with a cage over the face, a breast plate which is sort of like a vest made of Kevlar, elbow and knee pads, boots, and leather covering for your legs in case of a crash.)
