I remember a day when I played tag at lunch and met my friends at the park in the evenings to play prisoner's base. We walked or biked everywhere we needed to go. It was the way things went. Now, over 85 per cent of all children and youth aren't getting the recommended minimum amount of physical activity (about 90 minutes) a day.
The reasons are vast. Organized sports are expensive and time consuming for both parents and children. It's scary out there. Keeping kids indoors is safe. We can see them and keep an eye on them. Any maybe it's as simple as we've let our kids get lazy. They don't want to go outside. They don't want to walk anywhere. They aren't into sports. Or they just want to go on the computer or watch TV.
The thing we're missing is all the benefits associated with getting our children and youth more physically active. Besides helping them maintain a healthy weight during adolescence, active children develop positive habits and attitudes towards physical activity for later in life. The number or obese children has nearly tripled in the last 25 years. The scary part of this statistic is that overweight children tend to become overweight adults and adult obesity is a growing epidemic in Canada.
Physical activity is essential for growth and development of bones and muscle tissue in children. It also has been proven to improve self esteem, academic performance and concentration levels in school. There is a noticeable improvement among children and youth involved in physical activity and their social interaction abilities with their peers and adult leaders and coaches. As well, organized sports build camaraderie and teamwork skills in youth.
Besides organized sports, there are numerous ways to get your family more active this summer. Try a few of the following or come up with some ideas of your own.
Plan a family ball tournament.
Before or after dinner, rather than sitting down to watch TV, go for a walk, bike ride or head to the park.
Look up games on the Internet that you can play together. Some examples are kick the can, stuck in the mud or dodge ball.
Plan a block street hockey tournament.
Go on a family outing to the lake for an afternoon and walk to the top of the lighthouse.
Take a golf lesson together.
Join a local gym and workout together.
These are just a few ideas to get you started. This summer make an effort to be more active as a family.
Say it! Mean it! Do it!
