By starting good exercise practices early in your kids' lives, you can help them build healthy habits that will last for a lifetime. Aerobic exercise gets the heart rate up and burns calories; it can also build muscle. The Mayo Clinic recommends that you put the focus on being active rather than on exercising. In doing so, you can instill a love of moving and working the body, which can help prevent future obesity and health problems.
Time
According to the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, children should exercise for 60 minutes on most days of the week. If your kids don't have the opportunity to move around at school, you can help them by planning activities after school and on the weekends. The Mayo Clinic recommends that you also limit time in front of television or video games; keep it to one or two hours per day, max. The less time your kids spend sitting down, the more exercise they will get.
Risks
When children do not get enough exercise, they can face health risks later in life. Kids who never develop the habit of playing outside and running around on a regular basis are less likely to be active later in life. Even in childhood, they can experience obesity, diabetes, poor physical development and asthma. When children are overweight because of a lack of activity, they can also suffer from a poor body image, which can lead to eating disorders and social anxiety.
Types of Exercise
Young children can exercise without going anywhere near a gym; the best exercises for kids are the games they naturally play. Encourage your children to get outside and play instead of sitting in front of the television or the computer. They can play tag, run around on the playground, go biking or play with a ball. The Pennington Biomedical Research center recommends activities that involve short bursts of energy interspersed with rest periods, such as playing on the monkey bars, jumping through sprinklers, jumping rope or playing just about any sport.
Household Tasks
To get your kids moving without making it seem like they are exercising, involve them in tasks around the house. Assign them to help you do spring cleaning or basic chores, for example, or get them used to participating in daily tasks. When the weather is nice, involve them in more strenuous activity like weeding the garden, raking leaves or helping around the yard.
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