Lisa Oberacker: Help Your Kids Get Active
Be creative when trying to develop your child’s exercise and eating habits.
Parents are looking for ways to develop their children’s eating patterns and exercise habits. Tackling these issues at a young age can give children a head start at being a healthy adult.
What can you do today to help shape a healthier future for your child?
Cook together. Whether this is at home or taking a lesson, cooking together shows your child what is in the food you eat. It also teaches general cooking skills, a skill everyone should learn.
Develop a walking routine. Taking a daily walk together as a family is good family time. It gets you outside, and it’s good exercise.
The walk doesn’t have to be all-out. A casual one- or two-mile walk on a consistent basis will keep your body in shape a lot more than you think, not to mention how walking benefits your heart health.
Demand you exercise together. This sounds a little much, but when you force your kids to exercise once or twice a week for 30 to 45 minutes, exercise becomes second nature as they get older and will continue as they go to college and become an adult.
This can be anything from weightlifting, biking, hiking, running, taking exercise classes, or doing exercise videos at home. Don’t get caught up in the type of workout, just get moving.
At this point they are children, and potentially they are into sports. Sports are a form of exercise, but getting in a family run or doing a yoga video once a week can be healthy for their minds. Yoga is a great way to decompress and release stress.
Overall, be creative on your exercise approach. It does not have to be strenuous to be effective. As a young child, it’s more important to establish a routine rather than exercise intensely.
Childhood obesity and health issues are an epidemic these days, and whatever we can do for our kids to help alleviate preventable health concerns, the better off they’ll be as adults.
Lisa Oberacker is a certified strength and conditioning specialist at Executive Personal Fitness.
Story Credit: http://www.goerie.com/news/20170723/lisa-oberacker-help-your-kids-get-active
