Fit Kids

Kids today are busier than ever.

Between the ages of about 5 and 18 kids are developing, learning, creating, playing, obeying, acting out and discovering who they really are. Meanwhile, they have homework, sports, music lessons, church, electronics and more to keep them wonderfully distracted and occupied at all hours every day. I know what a challenge it can be to find balance amid the chaos and I know that most kids want to do it all, have it all and thrive at the same time.

What does it mean to be a fit kid?

Being fit at any age means eating well, getting plenty of physical activity, maintaining a healthy weight, managing stress, and having enough down time (rest) to rejuvenate. All this while keeping up with homework, chores, and extracurricular activities can be challenging for sure. When they maintain healthy fitness, their bodies function better and they have enough energy to do what they love to do.

As parents and caregivers, we can make sure to serve healthy meals and role model “fit” behavior with regular exercise, limited media exposure, and positive reinforcement. Parents can also help kids take charge of their health by stocking the pantry and refrigerator with healthy foods and planning physical activities for the family. We can also keep from overscheduling our kids.

I am one of those adults who remembers (as a child) spending all day outdoors, playing in the street, hanging out at the park, or playing hide and seek until it was too dark to really see. Nowadays many parents feel that allowing kids to play freely outdoors unsupervised is too dangerous. I get that. Instead, we involve our kids in organized, structured and supervised activities often as many activities as possible. This may work for some kids and some families, but in general when a child is involved in too many structured activities, it can cause him or her a lot of stress.

So I spoke to a bunch of kids from Colorado (the only state in the United States with an obesity rate below 20%). The kids varied in age from 6 to 18 and I asked what they do to help them stay balanced and fit. Now, I’m not sure if I happened to interview a bunch of overachievers but wow! These kids participated in 1 to 8 activities outside of school, and averaged up to 3 hours of daily vigorous physical activity. Maybe it’s a Colorado thing. To stay balanced one middle school girl finds that making checklists helps. One boy wakes up early to get his homework done so that he can participate in all of his after school activities. Another boy tackles the hardest tasks first and likes to spend time with his pets if he is feeling stressed.

Numerous obligations can interfere with family mealtime, study time, down time and eventually lead to burn out.

To “be fit” is quality we must all strive for. Fitness begins almost from the time we are born. Heck, just being born takes a lot of energy! But seriously, with the growing epidemic of obesity and especially obesity in children, it is time to get serious about fitness. When we’re talking about fitness, we’re talking about strength, cardiovascular endurance, and flexibility.

Playing with animals actually ranked highest among the kids I interviewed in terms of helping them stay balanced. Sure enough research supports this intuitive connection. Pets provide unconditional love. Pets can help prevent depression, loneliness and decrease feelings of stress. Given the pressure that kids are under, as they get older, pets can really help them feel balanced. Dogs are also more likely to get kids out for a walk!

Experts suggest a full hour of moderate to vigorous exercise for all children over age 2. Set fitness goals together with your kids. See how you can challenge one another to incorporate activities that are aligned with your mission. For example: riding bikes instead of driving (when and where possible), playing on the playground together, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, picking a time each day for physical activity.

Strength doesn’t mean making your 2-year old start doing pull-ups and push-ups or lifting weights. You can make a game out of it when kids are young. You can have them push their legs against your hands or even climbing up structures on the playground these are two examples of how to incorporate strength training when your kids are real young. As they get older and enter elementary school and onto middle and high school, we can start to talk about push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups and weight training. We can make it fun by having hand stand contents against the living room wall. We can wrestle together. We can participate in a weight-training program as families where trained professionals can help guide us to the appropriate exercises for our ages and abilities.

Cardiovascular or aerobic training should be a “no-brainer” (unless you or your child is challenged with exercise-induced asthma or has any other handicap). Running on the playground, riding bikes, playing soccer, tennis, swimming, hockey, basketball, football these all require endurance. Be a model for your kids. Don’t expect to enroll them in every sport under the sun while you sit around all day. Get involved in a sport together. We love tennis and soccer because they are adaptable for many levels of expertise and make great family fitness activities. Set goals as a family whether that may be participating in your first 5K together or learning a new sport together how about lacrosse or in-line skating?

Flexibility is another important aspect of life-long fitness. Whether it’s bending down to touch your toes or going into a backbend from standing position, flexibility is good for the body. Being flexible allows the muscles and joints of the body to participate more fully in each activity and it also helps prevent injuries. Practice stretching every evening before bed, and definitely before and after physical endurance or strength training activities. If you are watching television together, practice doing the splits or see who can get closest to touching their chest to their knees when sitting on the floor.

The average child in America watches about 3 hours of television daily.

This is pretty ridiculous; we hope you’ll agree. Turn off the television and get moving.
Make sure your kids are getting in some kind of movement activity at minimum every 2 hours. This doesn’t mean an hour-long game of tag every other hour, but it does mean turning off the television and moving around.

Whether you are a kid that wants to be fit or an adult with the same desire, here are our top 6 “be fit and stay balanced” habits to practice. The secret is to live out these principles most of the time, knowing that balance includes having fun and letting loose sometimes.

1. Get Moving
Discover ways to move your body every day. Sports can be a great way to get involved in the community and improve coordination, overall fitness and self-esteem. Some kids aren’t natural athletes or they don’t like team sports like baseball, lacrosse or soccer. Team sports are not for everyone so work together as a family to find something that sounds fun! Activities like playing tag, jumping rope, dancing, riding bikes, tennis, dancing, swimming, horseback riding, and golf are examples of fun activities that boost fitness and coordination.

2. Eat at Least One Serving of Fruit and/or Vegetable at Every Meal and Snack
A child’s palate can change dramatically between the early years and high school. Be consistent with this one habit eating your fruits and vegetables. Most of the kids I interviewed chose pasta, meat, and dairy as their favorite foods. We all have a favorite food, but the best choice is to eat a variety of foods and don’t skimp on the fruits and vegetables. A good habit would be to aim for at least 2 servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables daily. That’s not so hard. For example, that may mean a bowl of cereal with 1Ž2 banana in the morning, an apple for mid-morning snack. Add 6 baby carrots to your lunch. Have some celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins (an ounce or one small box) for afternoon snack and have broccoli with dinner along with a small salad.

3. Limit Electronics
Kids and adults are still spending (wasting) too much time in front of the TV and using portable electronic gadgets. Kids, on average, start using electronic devices at age 6.7. Now, I am not judging this, I am just asking, is this really necessary? Cell phones, IPODs and handheld gaming devices may have their place in the world but they tend to also pull us into a sort of black hole from where it becomes difficult to emerge. A new study found a link between problem cell phone use and low self-esteem. Teens who used cell phones the most were more likely to be anxious and depressed. Set boundaries around electronics. As a family commit to turning off all electronics by dinnertime. You can have a special collection basket that everyone puts their electronic devices in at dinnertime and they stay there until the next morning. This is a great practice for all of us, parents or not.

4. Schedule Down Time
Rest and relaxation are highly underrated. Kids need plenty of rest and sleep for their growing bodies and developing brains. Elementary aged kids need at least 10 hours of sleep every night and middle- and high-schoolers need an average of about 8 1Ž4 to 9 1Ž2 hours. Reading together as a family, game night, meditating, journaling, and just hanging out are great ways to unwind and connect.

5. Make Family Mealtime a Priority
Sure I can tell you to eat broccoli, kale, spinach, fish, whole grains, healthy fats, etc. and that is all true and wonderful. Equally, if not more, important is eating together as a family. This is the time to connect and communicate. This is when we can find out about what is going on in our kid’s lives. This is where we model healthy eating and help direct our children toward positive behavior and activities. Sitting down and eating together actually increases the likelihood that our meals will be healthier and more balanced. Teens who frequently eat with their families are less likely to have abused illegal drugs. Girls who eat at least five or more meals with their families are less likely to develop eating disorders. I know all too well how easy it is to focus on the “no” factor or shall we say what “not” to do. A perfect example is when I noticed on several of my daughter’s math tests and other school works that she was doodling all over the margins. “Wow,” I said. “Don’t you think your teacher is going to assume you aren’t paying attention with all this doodling?” About a week later I read an interesting study that found that doodling might help with memory recall. In this study from Plymouth University (United Kingdom), researchers found that doodlers outperformed non-doodlers by 29% on memory tests. Who knew?

6. Eat Breakfast
It is true breakfast is the meal of champions. Breakfast sets the tone for the day. Don’t skip it our bodies and brains absolutely need to be fueled for wellness on all levels. Great choices include oatmeal, yogurt with berries, eggs, whole grain toast or cereal, organic milk, whole grain waffles with nut butter just remember to balance some healthy protein with whole grains, fruit, and a little healthy fat.

Provide kids with the tools they need to get fit, maintain balance and make healthy choices. Say yes to spending time together. Say no when you have to like when you can see your child clearly needs some down time.

March 28, 2010

by Optimum Wellness

Comments

Leave a Reply