Keep Kids Fit and Healthy
Kids between six and 12 need to be active to ensure they stay healthy, which is essential as they move into adulthood. Remembering the guidelines and tips here will help keep your kids fit as they get older.
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What Are The Benefits Of Physical Activity For Children?
It’s important to ensure your child is physically active. But what does ‘active’ mean?
Being active, in terms of exercise, means moving around enough to breathe heavier than normal, getting warm, and being short of breath for an extended period at least three or four days per week.
Exercise is essential to stay healthy and fit for both adults and children. Also, being active helps young people to build strong joints, muscles, and bones. It also keeps weight under control and reduces the chances of heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension in adulthood.
Also, children being active helps to improve their mental health and maintain good behavior. Plus, keeping children active with physical activity reduces problems with depression and anxiety throughout life.
Stress That Exercise Is Fun
It’s important that your child has fun when they exercise. No one responds well to physical activity they don’t enjoy, whether it’s adults or children.
For example, you probably don’t want to force your child to go for one-mile runs every day, unless that is something they want to do. It’s counterproductive to make exercise something they resist and dread.
Instead, make the exercise part of your daily routine and something you do with them. Or, they can do it with their friends.
For instance, you can grab a frisbee and go to the park and throw it for 30 minutes. If the child needs to run often to catch it, this can be enough physical activity for the day.
Give Exercise-Related Gifts
If you want to get your kids away from the TV, don’t give them video games. Instead, give them presents that encourage activity, such as a bicycle, sneakers, rollerblades, or a soccer ball. You could even get them scooter luggage for school or travel! Make sure to engage your kids in activity at least 1-2 times per week.
Be A Great Role Model
All children watch and imitate their parents’ behavior – good and bad. If your children see you exercise and enjoy it, there’s a bigger chance they will be the same way.
You can encourage your child to get more exercise by showing you put the time and effort in as part of your daily routine.
For example, children whose parents run several times per week are more likely to see daily exercise as something they should do. You shouldn’t force them to run or do the activities you do, but if they are open to it, include them in one of your exercise sessions.
Get Your Child’s Doctor Involved
The doctor you choose for your child can help them understand that being active is important and also fun. The physician also can help the child figure out activities that they enjoy outside.
Sometimes it can help an older child to get a third party involved in starting an exercise program. If the idea for more physical activity comes from an adult that isn’t a parent, it can make a bigger impact.
Make Time
Children should get 30 minutes of physical activity at least three or four days a week, and more is better.
They can meet this goal if they have enough time put aside for exercise. Schoolwork is important, as are other hobbies, but they should always have enough time built into the day for physical activity.
Implementing these simple strategies over time are a sure-fire way to get your child more active and healthy.
