9 Ways To Help Your Child Be More Physically Active
Parents play a key role in making their child more physically active. Many people believe that physical exercise is something that only overweight people should worry about, and unintentionally this false belief also extends to children.
If we add to that how comfortable it is to keep children entertained with video games or television and how little accessible physical activities tend to be, we are faced with a not very encouraging situation.
The good news is that children are physically active by nature. For this reason, parents should not find it difficult to encourage physical activity in their children. However, as they get older, the demands of school and other circumstances mean that children have fewer opportunities (even less desire) to move.
Why Children Should Exercise
School does not provide enough time for physical activity so that parents do not worry about giving their children the opportunity to exercise more, which is vital for the health and growth of children.
Physical exercise in childhood favors growth and development, helps to have strong bones, helps prevent obesity, promotes sleep, supports the immune system, reduces the risk of diseases, including type 2 diabetes. Exercise helps children improve their self-esteem, regulate stress, and improve their social relationships.
Strategies to help a child be more physically active
For a child to be more physically active, it is necessary for their parents to get involved. A few decades ago it was enough to open the door and let the children play in the street. But now things have changed and it is no longer so easy to find a place where children can play nor so safe to leave them alone.
So how do you get your child to move more and exercise more? We see it below:
1 – Be a role model : Children who do not see their parents exercising or who see them sitting at home all day tend to imitate them. Convincing children that physical activity is important involves leading by example and enthusiastically.
2 – Participate with children in physical activities : There are many things that parents can do with their children, from going for a walk together, walking to run errands, playing with them outdoors or participating in organized activities. Young children love to play with their parents.
3 – Plan weekend activities : Go to the pool, go on an excursion, rent a track to play with the family, learn something new together, go to dance class … these are some of the things that can be planned for a weekend. week or on a vacation.
4 – Encourage children to participate in a sport or sports school : Although it involves a sacrifice for parents, both financially and in time, it is important to encourage children to participate in sports activities with other children their age and to explore various sports .
5 – Supervise the use of television and video games : Many times children do not exercise more because they are trapped by television or video games, even by using the mobile. Monitoring and limiting the use of electronic devices can help children to seek other forms of entertainment, although for them to be physically active, this activity must obviously be encouraged.
6 – Provide the child with material to exercise : A child who has a ball plays ball, a child who has skates goes out to skate, a child who has a bicycle goes out pedaling. Children must have elements that encourage them to exercise.
7 – Go out into the streets with clothes and footwear that promote physical activity : When children go out with comfortable clothes and footwear, it is easier for them to move freely and naturally. In any case, it is necessary to avoid limiting children in their physical activity because they stain or because they damage their clothes.
8 – Leave space at home for children to move : At home you can do some activities that involve a certain degree of physical activity without running or jumping, but for this you have to leave space, even if it is at the cost of rethinking the decoration and the organization of the house.
9 – Do not limit their movements : Taking a child to the park, going out to ride a bicycle or going on an excursion and being all the time telling the child “be careful”, “do not get on there” or things like that does not help . Let your child explore his possibilities and learn to navigate the environment. It is one thing to take some basic safety measures and another to not let the child experiment. The child has to fall and get up, experience risk and learn to overcome fear.
