A Mom’s daily calendar is almost always overscheduled. Each day usually starts early and ends late. It may include lots of running in circles (at least it can feel that way). But, probably is lacking any real physical activity. With children returning to school, the schedule gets even tighter due to school requirements and events.
It may seem an insurmountable task to get your family into the healthy habit of regular exercise. Yet, with the disturbing recent obesity trends, it’s an extremely important habit to adopt. Studies have indicated that children are 40% less active than they were just 30 years ago. This has negative effects for kids in physical, psychological, and social areas.
So, being an active family needs to become a priority. Fortunately, it’s actually easier than you may think. With a little planning you can find ways to incorporate workouts into the time you spend with your children. Regardless of your children’s age, there’s a way to find time to workout (often even with your kids)! Here are some tips organized by age, which will add to your family time together and help to keep the whole family active!
Age: Infant through pre-school
Play a game of keep-away or tag.
Occupy them for even 15 minutes with a video or toy while you do some toning exercises like squats and tricep dips.
Grab your stroller and go for a brisk walk. Or, buy a jogging stroller for more flexibility. With a jogging stroller you can walk faster, jog or even run at a fast pace. And, for veteran rollerbladers, you can even use the stroller for some skating time. Don’t forget the kid helmets.
For younger children, you can use a back carrier to transport them while walking. This can burn even more calories as the extra weight makes it more challenging.
Turn on some music and dance together. Toddlers love dancing, especially when their parents join in.
Play hopscotch – yes, you will work up a sweat.
Push your kid on a swing. And, after every push complete one squat.
Use an infant carrier or bike trailer to enjoy a bike ride together.
Age: Grade School
Try rollerblading or skating together.
Spend an afternoon at a park with a playground, but don’t spend the whole time relaxing on the sidelines – join in on the fun. Spend some time swinging to help workout your legs. Try making it across the monkey bars – even just once (it’s a great upper body workout and you’ll be amazed that your kid does it with such little ease). Try some pull-ups using a bar on the playset. Do some tricep dips on a nearby park bench.
Get a small group together for a kickball or softball game.
If your child can ride a bicycle at a moderate pace, jog alongside of them.
Involve your kids while you strength train. Let them count your reps out loud for you and/or clock your rest time in-between sets.
Try a game of marble pick-up. Set up a circle (or more than one) of marbles. Compete with each other to see who can pick them up quicker following certain rules (e.g. not being able to bend from the waist but instead using a squatting technique to grab them). Adults will get an extra workout if they squat while balancing on just one foot.
On rainy days that force you inside, walk or run up and down the stairs. You might even make it a contest to see who can finish 5 complete rounds first.
Age: Teenagers
Register for a fun run (or walk) event and spend time together training for the event.
Set up an obstacle course in your back yard. Then try such things as quick sprints back and forth between two objects, hopping over a line of sticks, and running zig-zags around a line of cones.
Play tennis or basketball together.
Consider joining a community volleyball or softball team that includes enthusiasts of all ages.
Don’t just sit and cheer your kids at their sporting events. Every few minutes do some walking or jumping jacks or squats.
Learn how to do strength training exercises that require partners. There are dozens of options that work both individuals’ bodies. For example, partner squats where two people stand facing each other, grasp each other around their forearms and squat simultaneously as if sitting in a chair.
Implement a daily family walk each day before or after dinner.
Work together in the yard raking leaves, planting flowers, trimming trees.
Sure, you may have a very full plate but isn’t it time to throw out the “I’m a parent – I don’t have time to workout” excuse. Don’t focus on the frequency or irregularity of your workouts. Take the opportunities for physical activity when they arise. If you implement these above activities for just 30 minutes three times per week, you can easily burn an extra 450 calories or more!
Plus, working out sets a great example for your children that will teach them at an early age how important (and easy) it is to make physical fitness a part of daily life. Exercising with your kids also provides the extra bonus of spending quality time together.
Showing posts with label obesity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label obesity. Show all posts
Monday, October 31, 2011
Monday, December 20, 2010
Combating Childhood Obesity
A common misconception in today’s society is that a chubby baby is a healthy baby. Yes, we all love cute, chubby babies, but the sad reality is that too many of those chubby babies will later turn into unhealthy, chubby adults. As parents, it is our job to ensure we build a good foundation for our children by introducing them to a wide variety of foods, and not let them over indulge on sweet sugary deserts and empty calories.
With the increasing popularity and convenience of fast food, nearly one out of every five children is battling obesity. Obesity is now common throughout the world, regardless of race or gender. With obesity becoming a problem at these early ages, there is a significantly higher likelihood of adult disease and health problems earlier in life. Obesity is fast becoming a wide spread health danger to our human world.
With more advances in modern technology, we have found ways to do things the lazy way, eliminating a lot of physical exercise we used to get on a daily basis just going about our normal routines. Kids now ride scooters or four wheelers rather than bicycles or roller skates. They now choose to spend their free time in front of the computer, television, or with a video game rather than outside playing tag and hide and go seek. This decrease in exercise is a common culprit among today’s children. We, the parents, have to be strong, and limit the time we allow them to spend playing video games or in front of the television. Sometimes, we may have to change our own habits to get them to change theirs. Go outside and play with your children, play ball, go bike riding, etc. Doing things as a family often makes them more fun, and therefore will be easier to get your kids involved in.
It seems like everyday as parents, our lives get busier and faster paced, and we have less and less time to accomplish what needs to be done. We often look for the easy way out, giving in to running thru drive thru on the way home from work, rather than going home and cooking dinner as we should. If we prepare our meals, we know what the ingredients are, and have the power to make healthy choices. Going with the fast food option is more convenient, but often is very low on the nutritional value side of things, and also teaches your kids that it is okay to eat that junk, often leasing them to develop bad eating habits of their own. If you have to go the fast food way occasionally, opt for salads and grilled chicken, or try to go with the healthiest choices on the menu, rather than the all too alluring burger and fries.
Kids who spend a lot of time inside in front of television or video games also increase their risk for obesity by indulging in junk food. They eat ice cream, potato chips, cookies, etc., adding to their caloric intake, while reducing the amount of physical exercise they get, again increasing their odds for becoming obese significantly.
Basically, childhood obesity is caused by lack of physical exercise, bad food choices, and to be frank, lack of parental control over their children’s lives.
Obese children are at increased risk for all kinds of health conditions. Common problems include early onset diabetes, joint problems from carrying excess weight, heart disease, and mental and social issues caused by being overweight. School age children often think it is fun to pick on each other, and this joking can cause a world of self esteem problems for the overweight child that will often carryover into adulthood. Then of course, the health risks are increased due to the fact that most obese children will eventually turn into obese adults, with a variety of other health issues to deal with.
It is important to do everything you can to prevent childhood obesity from striking your kids, as you are the first weapon against this dangerous problem. Teach your kids how to make healthy food choices, and most importantly get them outside and active, even if you have to do it too. Parents by no means take all the blame for this problem, but we can take steps to help combat it before it begins.
With the increasing popularity and convenience of fast food, nearly one out of every five children is battling obesity. Obesity is now common throughout the world, regardless of race or gender. With obesity becoming a problem at these early ages, there is a significantly higher likelihood of adult disease and health problems earlier in life. Obesity is fast becoming a wide spread health danger to our human world.
With more advances in modern technology, we have found ways to do things the lazy way, eliminating a lot of physical exercise we used to get on a daily basis just going about our normal routines. Kids now ride scooters or four wheelers rather than bicycles or roller skates. They now choose to spend their free time in front of the computer, television, or with a video game rather than outside playing tag and hide and go seek. This decrease in exercise is a common culprit among today’s children. We, the parents, have to be strong, and limit the time we allow them to spend playing video games or in front of the television. Sometimes, we may have to change our own habits to get them to change theirs. Go outside and play with your children, play ball, go bike riding, etc. Doing things as a family often makes them more fun, and therefore will be easier to get your kids involved in.
It seems like everyday as parents, our lives get busier and faster paced, and we have less and less time to accomplish what needs to be done. We often look for the easy way out, giving in to running thru drive thru on the way home from work, rather than going home and cooking dinner as we should. If we prepare our meals, we know what the ingredients are, and have the power to make healthy choices. Going with the fast food option is more convenient, but often is very low on the nutritional value side of things, and also teaches your kids that it is okay to eat that junk, often leasing them to develop bad eating habits of their own. If you have to go the fast food way occasionally, opt for salads and grilled chicken, or try to go with the healthiest choices on the menu, rather than the all too alluring burger and fries.
Kids who spend a lot of time inside in front of television or video games also increase their risk for obesity by indulging in junk food. They eat ice cream, potato chips, cookies, etc., adding to their caloric intake, while reducing the amount of physical exercise they get, again increasing their odds for becoming obese significantly.
Basically, childhood obesity is caused by lack of physical exercise, bad food choices, and to be frank, lack of parental control over their children’s lives.
Obese children are at increased risk for all kinds of health conditions. Common problems include early onset diabetes, joint problems from carrying excess weight, heart disease, and mental and social issues caused by being overweight. School age children often think it is fun to pick on each other, and this joking can cause a world of self esteem problems for the overweight child that will often carryover into adulthood. Then of course, the health risks are increased due to the fact that most obese children will eventually turn into obese adults, with a variety of other health issues to deal with.
It is important to do everything you can to prevent childhood obesity from striking your kids, as you are the first weapon against this dangerous problem. Teach your kids how to make healthy food choices, and most importantly get them outside and active, even if you have to do it too. Parents by no means take all the blame for this problem, but we can take steps to help combat it before it begins.
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