My Gym: Getting Fit is all Fun and Games

When we think of children in days gone by, we imagine them running around, jumping and tumbling and laughing with pleasure at it. When we look at our kids today, we're more likely to see them slumped in front of the TV or computer, overweight and unhappy about it. How has this happened?

More importantly, how can we help them to turn it around? The importance of children's fitness cannot be overestimated - it's essential to establishing the patterns they'll follow for the rest of their lives.

Why aren't children interested in exercise any more? Part of the problem is that the modern adult culture surrounding fitness has made it all too formal. In order to be appealing, children's fitness has to center on having fun. It has to be silly and amusing like the TV; it has to present challenges like the computer games.

Telling a child to undertake repetitive exercise on a fitness machine won't work. Children's fitness should be an entertaining, sociable activity with the reward of immediate positive attention.

One of the best ways to promote your children's fitness is to encourage them to play outdoors with other children, but not all children take to this. Some fin it difficult to form friendships or feel shy about engaging in physical activity with their peers if they're initially unfit and expect o be bad at it.

The best way to help with children's fitness in these cases is to provide the social element yourself. Accompany your children on bike rides to places which interest them or play soccer with them in the yard. Younger children often enjoy still less formal games involving chasing, climbing and tumbling. Let your children get the better of you sometimes and they'll feel particularly pleased with those games.

Improving children's fitness doesn't have to be stressful - it can be something which provides fun for the whole family. You might even find that it helps you get fitter yourself!

Labels: activities, childrens, gym, kids