Childhood obesity is a national concern and has more than tripled from 1980 to 2010, according to the Centers for Disease Control, CDC. Children spend more time in front of TVs or playing video games than playing outside. Lack of physical activity, combined with a diet high in fats and sugar, puts children at risk for cardiovascular disease, high cholesterol or high blood pressure. Getting your children off the couch and engaged in physical fitness programs lowers their risk of disease and instills healthy lifestyle habits.
Fitness Games
Fitness games are a great way for your kids to have fun while incorporating cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength, flexibility and maintain a healthy weight through exercise. Monster mash is a fun game that engages young children. Three or four kids are chosen to be monster mashers and are given a beanbag. All the other children are monsters. A monster is mashed when tagged on the shoe with the beanbag and has to dance the "Transylvania Twist" five times. They then become a masher.
Hand hockey is another fitness game gamed played with multiple children. Children are paired off and face each other in the push up position. While maintaining the up position, each kid tries to score a goal using a beanbag and pushing it between his or her partner's hands. A goal is scored when the puck, or beanbag, slides through the others hands.
After School Sports
After school sports such as baseball, soccer and hockey build strong bodies and let your child have fun with friends outside of class. Children who participate in after-school fitness plans have a better attitude about school, are more engaged in learning and perform better academically, according to Toby Leah Bochan in an article published in "Scholastic."
Family Activities
Playing catch with your kids, taking hikes as a family and enjoying outdoor activities with your kids sets a good example for them and is a good physical fitness plan for the whole family. It is also a powerful stimulus for a child, according to Edward Laskowski, M.D., co-director of the Sports Medicine Center at the Mayo Clinic. Plan weekend outings that involve some sort of physical activity. Start a regular weekly physical activity such as biking with your kids, setting goals and encouraging your kids to increase and maintain their ongoing fitness level.
Resistance Training
Kids bore easily and are not likely to run on a treadmill for 30 to 60 minutes a day for cardiovascular exercise, preferring to play and run around with friends in short bursts of exercise. Strength training is more challenging than running on a treadmill and offers more variety in the exercises. Each exercise is only performed for a short duration with a series of different exercises -- compatible with the short attention spans of children.
Strength training for children involves light resistance and not weightlifting for bodybuilding or powerlifting. Always start with light weights, using resistance bands or machines, and focus on safety and proper technique. Have a focused exercise plan with realistic goals.
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