Men's Health News and Information


Get Up! Get Out!
The importance of physical activity for you and your kids.

An important message from our government: Get up! Get out!

The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports has been running a TV ad campaign touting their message to get up and get out of the house. The commercials, directed towards children and teenagers, seem low budget and grainy, but the message is poignant. Our government has had to resort to telling children and adults to get up and move a little. Obesity is soon to become an official disease and the results of obesity (heart disease, diabetes, cancer, i.e…) are already taking a toll on health care costs.

Our responsibility as adults is to lead by example. Getting involved in a child's physical activity routine early in life will not only create enjoyable, quality time to be spent with your child, but will also set in motion a habit for life. It is our responsibility as adults to share with children the pleasures and benefits of a physically active lifestyle.

Physical activity not only entertains children, but keeps them fit and healthy. Whether they choose to join a team sport such as soccer or baseball, or if they prefer more individual challenges such as karate or gymnastics, there is an ideal activity for your child that will peak their interest and improve and/or maintain their health and mental wellbeing.

By joining in the physical activity with your child, but also by simply encouraging and supporting the activity, children will understand the importance of play. If your child is more into video games than baseball games, more into surfing the web than the ocean, and more into watching tv as opposed to watching their weight, it isn't too late to change their perspective.

• Go on daily walks or bike rides with your child.
• With his or her support, sign your child up for a team sport and volunteer to coach or referee.
• Limit TV and computer time to 1 hour a day or less!
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator.
• Support your school district's physical education classes.
• Regularly join your child after school, whether in your back yard or at the nearby park, for games such as basketball, Frisbee, kite flying, soccer, etc.

Teaching your children the importance of physical activity and the positive role it plays in their lives will be a lesson that rewards them forever. And it's fun!

Sources:

Fit N' Active Kids