Childhood Obesity – 3 Fun Ways to Increase an Obese Child's Physical Activity
There are a lot of options to increase a child’s physical activity levels, and those of the family as well, in a fun and enjoyable way.
Here are 3 fun ways to increase children’s physical activity levels that can be tailored as you deem best for your family.
1. Household Chores
The mere mention of household chores sends everyone scurrying for cover. Believe it or not household chores can be fun. Here’s how:
On small pieces of paper jot down a chore and an exercise associated with it. Throw them into a bag or hat and have everyone pick one.
For example, if I get the bathroom, I may have to do four jumping jacks every few minutes, or if Johny gets to sweep or mop the kitchen floor he has to run in place for a minute every five minutes or whatever interval you decide on. The combinations are endless.
2. Family Workout Night
Pick an evening as the family workout night. Then each week have a different person put together a workout that the whole family will do together. Depending on the age of the child you may have to provide some guidance for coming up with a workout that covers the major muscle groups.
With time the workouts can gradually increase in difficulty levels. Don’t push this aspect to hard though as it will only frustrate and discourage the child.
This need not be limited to indoor activities; you have a wide choice of outdoor activities that you can choose from, such as hiking, walking, basketball, rollerblading, roller skating, bicycling, swimming, playing Frisbee or any other activity of interest.
Go to the nearest sports store and get a few pieces of simple, inexpensive equipment. This can be jump rope, dumbbells, resistance bands or anything else along these lines. Since TV commercials are rarely of interest, use this time to have everyone alternate in doing a few simple exercises.
3. A Family Affair
Set a goal for fitness of the family as a unit using a scale from 0 to 7.
A zero score for a particular day means that person did not do anything, a 7 means they exercised every day. At the end of the week add up each persons scores, then get a total by adding up all individual scores. Then divide that number by the number of members in the family. If a preset goal was met, all can be rewarded by a night out for a healthy dinner.
Encourage exercise in children by being a role model, be consistent and make it fun. These activities will instill discipline, goal setting, and the importance of health well into adulthood. They will also help the family to form a closer bond.
It is important to maintain activity levels and a healthy diet by following well planned strategies like those found at http://grski.com.
There are highly effective and proven strategies for increasing children’s activity levels and developing healthy eating habits that will last into adulthood.
As a parent, be a resource and strive to increase your child’s activity levels and don’t allow your obese child to fall victim to the consequences of inactivity.
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