Helping Your Kids Avoid Childhood Obesity

As a parent, it is important to ensure that your kids grow up to be healthy and strong. Unfortunately, children see nothing fun about going for a run or working out. They would rather sit at home playing the latest video game or watching their favorite TV show. What are some ways that you can get your children to enjoy exercise?



Make It Fun

Parents have to get their kids to run around without realizing that they are getting themselves into better shape. Some good ideas to make exercising fun include taking the kids to the playground , having your child enroll in a youth sport such as soccer or getting your kids a pet that they can chase around the yard each day.

Providing Financial Incentives Could Be A Good Idea



There is nothing a child gets more excited about than money. Offering $1 for each mile that your child runs or offering $20 for entering a short road race could make it worth your child's while to get off the couch and start running. If you are going to offer money as an incentive for your child to start exercising, you need to make it clear that the financial reward is only temporary. Eventually, your kid should start to learn that being healthy is its own reward.

Indoor Play Centres Can Be Useful



Taking your younger children to indoor play centres can provide them with a chance to play with their friends while they get some exercise. Ball pits, rock climbing walls and large slides are all enticing to children. If your kids are having fun, they will run around for hours without asking to go home. In fact, they may be unwilling to leave by the time the play session is over.

Get Involved With Your Child

Adults can stand to lose a few pounds as well. Going for a run with your kids, helping them practice their new sport or just wrestling in the living room for a few minutes before dinner are all great ways to get active while getting your kids active as well. If you start to get active yourself, your kids will learn from your example. ( Learn about the benefits of play for adults here



Children who learn healthy habits at a young age tend to keep those habits up as they get older. This means that parents have a pressing need to get their kids off the couch and get on the running track. If your children don't learn to appreciate exercise when they are young, they may not appreciate their health as they get older.



Related Articles

Top 5 Ways To Get Active With Your Kids

#any_age
#parenting
#play_
#tips
#behaviour
#kids
#health
#children
#exercise
#playing


%parent101