A BIG EPIDEMIC PART 2

Last week I talked about how the foods that children eat today are making them sick and overweight.

This week I am going to talk about what we need to do as a country to help these obese kids get healthier and happier. The first and most important thing is the food that they are eating and second is physical exercise. Since we talked about food last week we will talk about exercise this week.

As a child I remember there wasn’t a day that I didn’t go outside and play.

All that has changed with this new generation of kids, they would rather sit on the couch, eat, and watch tv, or play video games instead of going outside. One of the reasons kids do this is because they were taught as young toddlers that it was ok. These days there are so many things going on for the parents, that if they can sit their kid down in front of the tv to keep him/her entertained for a couple hours they see this as ok. No harm right, its just a couple hours why I do some work. Well they are wrong, children that are set in front of the tv when they are infants and toddlers are more likely to become obese later in life.

Now an hour here or there is fine as long as its not everyday, a couple times a day. You need to teach physical activity to kids when they are young, let them crawl, climb, walk, jump, and run as much as they can. Physical activity does not have to mean certain exercises, as long as you are doing something (not sitting on the couch) you are being active.

In schools today they have what is called organized physical activity. Where the teacher tells the kids to do something, say jumping jacks, and the kids do it. While this is still physical activity, kids are missing out on a very important thing, imagination. Children should be able to do activities that they want to do, use their imagination to play. Now the word play has been pushed aside for awhile to the word exercise. Playing is what children need to do, playing is when they use their imagination, and their bodies to do physical activity.

We as a country have gotten so caught up in organized activities that we have forgotten to teach our kids how to play. A way to do this is to let the kids pick out the activity they want to do. Instead of saying why don’t you go play on the swing, ask them what they want to do as an activity.

 

                                      Stay healthy and happy

                   Kristy loomis