Lifestyles today are either of two things: hectic and fast-paced, or sedentary and unchallenging. As a result, more and more lifestyle-related diseases are rising – sky-high cholesterol levels, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart diseases and even cancer. There’s a silver lining behind those dark clouds. The secret is in a productive and active lifestyle that is complemented by good diet choices and adequate rest.
Parents should be able to provide a good foundation of health and fitness for their children. It isn’t always easy, especially when children today are hooked on to their entertainment gadgets all day. If they are not in front of their computers, they’re busy working their gaming consoles or music players.
So, how can parents encourage their children to stay fit and active, without a lengthy sermon which the kids won’t appreciate? Here are tried-and-tested tricks to get your kids stretching those limbs and breaking into healthy sweat.
Find productive ways to use a bike.
You can get your children to exercise without actually telling them they should. If you have young kids, they will appreciate a bicycle which they are ride just around the neighborhood, or go racing with other kids. It provides your child an opportunity to exercise his or her legs in a fun way.
Want to add more incentive to the deal? Have your kid sign up for newspaper delivery every morning. Your child will learn to wake up early and get a hearty breakfast and then delivery the paper to people in the neighborhood. He or she will learn about responsibility. It’s not only a great way to establish a fit routine in your child, it will also teach him or her about earning and saving money early in life.
Give your child the task of walking the dog everyday.
Instead of doing it yourself, you can encourage your child to walk the dog. Tell him or her it’s a great way to bond with the family pet. Encourage some active playing in the backyard or garden and show your child some cool tricks to teach your pet. He or she doesn’t know it, but he or she is slowly forgetting the habit of slouching in front of the TV after school, because he or she is busy training and walking the dog. Playing “catch” or “frisbee” is a vigorous activity, as it will send your child’s legs sprinting and walking, and that’s a great daily exercise.
The park is always the perfect place to start.
If your child is in his or her toddler year, you may want to consider Gymboree. It is usually an indoor place where parents bring their little ones to socialize, play and dance with other kids their age. If your child is too old for indoor play areas, take him or her to a park with lots of play equipment. The slide, swings, see-saws and monkey bars will keep your child running, climbing and swinging, and all these help in keeping him or her physically fit.
Remember that play is a child’s best form of exercise.
Lead by example.
If your child sees your eating-potato-chips-first-thing-in-the-morning-habit, he or she may think it’s proper and may react violently if you stop him or her. If your child sees you get into your running shoes every afternoon for a brisk jog around the village, he or she may be stimulated to join you. When your child is young, you are his or her world, so set a good example by making the right food choices, and keeping yourself physically and mentally fit.
This guest post was written by Johanna Almazar. Johanna writes about childhealth- related articles for YourChildrensHealth.Com.
Johanna Almazar RN, is a registered nurse of the Philippines. She has made a career out of educating Asians as well as Europeans on the effective use of the English language. She is a dedicated writer and a consistent contributor to the website Pregnancyquickstart.com. During the day, she is an IELTS (International English Language Testing System) coach for a US-based premiere review facility for nurses who wish to migrate.
Hanna has traveled trans-culturally to several parts of the world, and had lived with her family in Qatar for twelve years before returning to the Philippines for further studies. She has attended various prestigious trainings on verbal and written communication, such as the Toastmasters’ International, a nonprofit organization committed to enhance the leadership and public speaking ability of its members. She also trained for radio broadcasting with one of the country’s local stations through a program called Aircheck.
One thing I plan to write about soon is the facts and myths with respect to children who train with weights. Right now we have a 13 year old who holds the junior record in the Philippines for the squat, bench press and deadlift and he is 6’1″ tall! He started his training career at age 7 so if there was ever a living example that lifting weights does not stunt your growth (actually there is evidence that it makes your bones grow stronger) he would be it.
Also teaching a child how to lift weights gives them a sense of responsibility and discipline…that plus they won’t be afraid of bullies