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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 Paul Martin
and his wife Alison are the
owners of Noss Galen Baby
LLC, a small online business
dedicated to offering innovative,
hard-to-find products for
babies and toddlers at affordable
prices. To see previous issues
of Paul's "Live and Learn"
newsletter, please visit http://www.NossGalenBaby.com/newsletter.html.
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