Fitness Tips for Children

by Lisa Mason

Video games, snacking, TV and lacking fitness programs at schools have contributed to obesity rates in children. What can parents do to help?

Obesity rates in children continue to climb. The Presidents Council on Physical Fitness and Sports reports 3 out of 4 school age children have three or more risk factors for heart disease.

Video games, snacking, TV and lacking fitness programs at schools due to shrinking budgets are all contributors to this sad trend. Sedentary lifestyles of children can have the same adverse effects as on the adult population: obesity, heart disease,hypertension, poor muscle strength, tone and low self-esteem to only mention a few.

What are some things parents can do to prevent their children from becoming obese?

For one, place high-fat, snack foods out of sight. Offer a variety of healthy foods and few high-calorie snacks Some other tips to remember when it comes to eating: do not eat while watching TV as studies suggest people eat more since they are not really conscious of eating. Try to chew your food more slowly, taking time to enjoy the flavor and avoid late night snacking.

What about starting you child in a fitness program? A fitness program for children should above all, be fun. Children have short attention spans and require a great deal of excitement and program diversity if they are to make fitness a life-style change. Prying children from the TV can be difficult in the beginning, but certainly not impossible. Let's look at two main components of fitness and see how we can meet the needs of each one:

Cardiovascular: This is perhaps the most important item on the list of fitness concerns. It is through cardiovascular training that one burns those calories, reduces weight, and decreases the risks of heart disease and high blood-pressure.

It also responsible for positive changes in stamina and endurance. Cardiovascular activity is an activity that elevates your heart rate above it's normal resting level and sustains it for a specific time. For our purposes, we want the children to move at a brisk but comfortable pace for at least 20 minutes, three times per week. The following are some examples of cardiovascular activity that qualify:

• running
• walking
• skating
• bicycling
• hiking
• jumping rope

Strength Training: Muscle strength and endurance is the second point of fitness we want to consider in the child's program.

These exercises should be done every other day, after cardiovascular activity. The movements should be challenging but not difficult nor straining. A child's body is very delicate and due to cartilage immaturity, developing motor skills and other conditions, weight lifting should be avoided until a good foundation of strength and biomechanics is achieved.

Studies indicate that children do improve sports performance, flexibility and overall strength with resistance training. When a program is eventually implemented, the child should receive supervision from a qualified instructor, conscious of their special needs.

There are other components to fitness also such as flexibility, body composition, etc., but by addressing the main concerns, we will positively effect all others. The points to remember are to keep fitness simple, fun, lead by example and aim for consistency.

Kids who are physically active are much more likely to become active, fit adults. They can live longer, healthier lives because exercise can prevent or forestall heart disease, diabetes, obesity. Even some forms of cancer can be prevented or forestalled by exercise and the right diet.

Lisa Mason is a freelance writer residing in Texas with her husband and two children. Her nonfiction article topics have included parenting, health and fitness, conditions & diseases, writing tips, military topics, and beauty/lifestyle. She is the webmaster of Writers Unite, a website for writers of all types.

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