Friday, January 20, 2012

Fitness for Children

 Experts say that most American children are on their way to an inactive adulthood, based on observations of how they spend their days.

Experts agree that heart disease is a hereditary condition, but that the factors and conditions that increase risk of heart disease begin in childhood.

       Here are some ways to help children get fit and stay that way:

       •  First, provide a good example yourself.  Children who have active parents are more likely to be active than children who do not.  

Plan family activities, or even after-dinner walks, several times a week. Make these activities fun for all involved.

       •  Make sure children are active at home.  Keep sports equipment on hand and encourage lifelong activities like tennis, biking, or running.  Children who enjoy these activities may well continue them.

       •  Unplug the TV, especially after school.  There’s a correlation between TV watching and low fitness rates, eating more junk food, obesity, and high cholesterol. 

Watching TV and playing computer games are passive activities usually involving no movement at all. We’ve all seen young people mesmerized by what is on the screen, often unaware that they are sitting still for so long. 

The inactivity is more dangerous, in the long run, than any potentially objectionable material on the screen that might soon be forgotten. So make fitness a family affair and it will have benefits that last a lifetime.