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Dear Subscriber,
When is the best time to introduce children to
excercise? By the time a child begins
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.
Although unhealthy eating is definitely part of
the reason America's youth is overweight, lack of
daily excercise 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.
Alison and I exercise around our 2-year-old girls
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 little 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, Ainsley and Sierra 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
moreso than all the blinking lights and loud
noises at 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.
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Have an active week!
Sincerely,
Paul
Paul & Alison Martin
Noss Galen Baby LLC
www.NossGalenBaby.com
Copyright, Noss Galen Baby LLC 2004-2008
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