Health & Medical Advice and Information - UK Medical Health

Recent years have seen a massive increase in the number of clinically obese children. The problem is so great that the government has had to step in with a groundbreaking strategy that supports the creation of a healthy society.

But what practical steps can any parent take to encourage sedentary youngsters to get more exercise? Here are a few suggestions partially derived from the Parents Centre forum:

1. Start by being honest about your own lifestyle, your habits, the food you eat and the exercise that you take;
2. Consider the example that you are setting for your children and look at aspects of your own lifestyle that can be improved;
3. Impose stricter boundaries around luxury foods (treats only) for both yourself and your children;
4. Get the children involved in team sports. If none are available consider starting something yourself;
5. Go cycling as a family each week;
6. Go swimming together each week;
7. Horse riding can be great if you can afford it;
8. Play badmington, tennis, cricket, football or whatever takes their fancy;
9. Enrol the children at a local activity centre as this will enable them to gain many experiences;
10. Invest in a garden trampoline. Irresistible to both children and adults alike;
11. Invest in a few skipping ropes, footballs, frisbies and other toys that can be taken to the park or played with in the garden;
12. Routinely turn off all televisions and radios and mobile phones and go for a walk;
13. Go camping together at weekends;
14. Don’t allow them to sit around playing computer games when the weather is good. Be firm and throw the children out of the house to play.

Crucially, be honest with yourself regarding the example that you are setting as a parent. If you routinely give in to temptation by eating unhealthy foods and don’t take any exercise then you can’t expect your children to do any different.

The British Toy and Hobby Association have conducted some research by questioning over 1000 primary school children to determine their views on what they would like to do with their parents or carers. This research has been carried out as part of their campaign intended to highlight the value of play. The data gathered has been used to produce a useful booklet aimed at busy parents and carers entitled ‘Solutions Through Fun‘. (PDF document).

Here are the childrens top ten tips reproduced from this helpful booklet:

(1) Parents to spend one-on-one time together with children. Make time to play, spend more uninterrupted time together, give each child special time.

(2) Go to the park and play sports together such as football, cricket, catch and go on bike rides.

(3) Play board games, cards or puzzles as a family.

(4) Dad to not go on the computer as much and for mum to not do as much housework.

(5) Play active games such as piggy in the middle, chase, hide and seek and skipping.

(6) Days out together to the zoo, museum, theatre, cinema or bowling.

(7) Bake and cook together.

(8) Make things and do arts and crafts such as painting, pottery, write stories or make face masks.

(9) Parents come home from work earlier.

(10a) Be funny, playful and silly by telling jokes, be more impulsive, laugh more and jump in puddles

jointly with…

(10b) Watch TV/DVD together.

Remember, have fun yourself and it will be fun for your child!

[Digg This]

I have come across a great blog which looks at the different reasons as to why children are becoming more obese. With child obesity becoming such an issue it is high-time that we all took a step back and looked at the real reasons as to why more and more children are becoming overweight.

Have a read of ‘The real cause of child obesity’