When is the best time to introduce children to exercise? The fact is that by the time children begin toddlerhood, they have already been exercising for the better part of a year. Raising their heads, turning over, sitting up, crawling, then walking. Before you know it, they are running around the house like football players souped up on too much Gatorade. The problem is not what's happening when they are 16 months old. It's what's happening when they are 16 years old. A typical teenager might wake up and then spend the rest of the day sitting. They sit on the bus to school, sit in class, sit in the lunchroom, sit on the bus back home, sit in front of the tv, sit in front of the computer, and if you are really lucky, they'll sit down on the couch and tell you how their day went. Though unhealthy eating is definitely part of the reason America's youth is overweight, lack of daily exercise is the main culprit. What changes between the pre-schooler who wants to run all day and the teenager who'd rather gag than play a game of basketball in P.E.? I'd venture to say it is the lack of good role models during those years in between. If you want your children to grow up healthy and active, you have to set a healthy and active example for them. "Do as I say and not as I do" is the #1 road to failure. In the end, as much as it would pain them to hear it, most children will follow in the footsteps of their parents, so we need to show them how to live the right way. The good news is that it's easy to exercise, and it's easy to get your kids hooked on it, too. My wife Alison and I exercise around our 2-year-old girls, Ainsley and Sierra, on an almost daily basis. Ali takes them with her to a "Baby Bootcamp" class designed for moms who'd like to get back into shape after pregnancy. On off days, she does Pilates videos at home where our twins can watch and imitate. I also do calisthenics workouts with the girls in the living room and playroom and, in warmer months, we take a daily multi-generational afternoon walk with the girls' great-grandmother. Because of this, our daughters have already learned that exercise is a normal and fun part of the day, and they do it now without any prompting from us. They'll be playing in their room, and then we hear one of them yell, "exercise, exercise!" Peek in their room, and you'll see them doing their own little versions of pushups, situps, squats, and jumping jacks, giggling as they go. They imitate what they see and they turn jump ropes into resistance bands for miniature tricep curls while steps become a great place to practice calf raises. Even more fun is on Saturdays when we go hiking together as a family. They're still too young to hike very far on their own feet (though they insist at times), but they've already grown an affection for being out in nature. Every rock and tree and stream is interesting to them, much more so than all the blinking lights and loud noises found at the local Chuck E Cheese. By cultivating their interest in the outdoors, we make it more likely that they will want to spend their weekends out there, rather than sitting on the couch watching re-runs of Beverly Hills 90210. Now, what could be more rewarding as a parent than that? So if you want your child to grow up healthy and active, don't just ship them off to soccer practice. Get your own legs in gear, and show them that this is how adults should live too, not just kids. Set a good example now and your kids will follow naturally. ------------------------------- Copyright, Paul Martin, Noss Galen Baby LLC 2006 |
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