How to Help Your Children Become More Active

You’ve undoubtedly seen the headlines: 1 in 3 American children is overweight or obese, children spend more time indoors using electronics than outdoors being active, and so on. Doctors recommend that kids spend at least 60 minutes per day being physically active, but the fact is, most don’t even come close to that amount.

For parents who were raised spending more time outdoors than indoors – and who had 30 minutes recesses during every school day – the idea of children not being active seems unbelievable. However, we live in a time when school recesses are getting shorter (or eliminated altogether), physical education only happens once a week, and parents aren’t as comfortable sending their kids outside to play unsupervised as they once were. Parents need to be creative in finding ways to help their kids become more active and stay healthy.

The good news is that’s actually fairly easy to do. Getting your kids off the couch and getting their bodies moving doesn’t mean becoming a drill sergeant and forcing your family on endless marches around the neighborhood. With some creativity and a willing spirit, you can get the whole family active and help everyone stay healthy.

Get Involved in Sports

Although studies show that kids may not be getting as much physical exercise as you might think during team sport practices, playing sports does increase overall physical activity – and offers a slew of other benefits, including developing perseverance, teamwork, good sportsmanship, and more. Getting your kids involved in sports does require commitment on everyone’s part, but the payoff is far greater than the cost of driving them to practices and games.

And while some kids play sports just to have fun, just as many find a passion in sports, and want to devote more time and energy to it. Getting kids involved in sports training programs helps them develop not only their skills on the field (or court or rink) but keeps them active. In fact, many kids who are heavily involved with sports at a young age hold on to the conditioning skills they learn, helping them stay active throughout their lives.

Make Exercise Fun

Kids want to have fun – and when exercise feels boring and like drudgery, they won’t want to do it. In fact, they aren’t that much different from adults that way.

Therefore, to keep your kids active, you need to make it fun. Don’t sell activities as exercise, but just incorporate them as play and a normal day. Some of the things you can do include:

• Have a kitchen dance party while making meals
• Walk the dog
• Walk or bike to and from school
• Play games outside, like tag, catch, hopscotch, or hide-and- seek
• Provide active toys, like balls, hula hoops, and jump ropes

Whatever you decide to do, make it fun, and your kids will enjoy being active.

Know Your Kids

Not all kids are athletes, and that’s okay. However, that doesn’t mean that all kids can’t be active. The most important part of helping your kids become active is knowing their limits and what will keep them engaged. Teach your kids to listen to their bodies, and if a workout becomes too difficult or they begin to experience pain, they should stop.

It’s also important that you don’t use exercise as a punishment or manipulate your child into getting active. While it’s okay to tell your little ones that they need to move their bodies to be healthy, focusing on their weight or telling them they’re lazy is likely to spur body image issues and a lifelong dislike of exercise. Instead, make exercising a positive experience by making it fun and engaging for the whole family.

Lead by Example

Finally, encourage your kids to get active by being a good example. When they see you being a couch potato, they are more likely to want to be lazy themselves. Don’t complain about working out but talk about how good you feel after you exercise. Show them how you have fun and talk about the good things that come from exercising; for instance, some of the things you notice on a morning walk, or how much you laughed trying to keep up in dance class. And don’t forget to model healthy behaviors: take the stairs instead of the elevator, park a little further away to get more steps in, and get outside and play with them. Your kids will notice, and be more likely to emulate those healthy choices.

Keeping your kids healthy and active doesn’t mean raising a family of gym rats. It just means looking for easy ways to get active, having fun, and showing your family how they can be active every day.