In an age of computers it is crucial that kids find ways to be active. Unfortunately, most children do not even play outside anymore because of their unhealthy addiction to video games. This is a sad thing, which would have been unheard of thirty years ago. The sounds of children laughing and playing are one of the most precious sounds on this earth. As influential adults, it is imperative to provide an environment where children feel comfortable to play and have fun. Video game and computers have their place, but there is not a substitute for healthy, childhood fun. Adults have gyms where they go to exercise in an attempt to be healthy, but for children, they have a outside jungle gym! Additionally, their gym membership is free!

Obesity statistics for children state that nearly one-third of children eat fast food every day. Healthy eating is incredibly crucial for a child. When you were a kid, your mom made you finish your vegetables or there was no snack after dinner. However, this generation is not even offered the vegetable. Instead, the junk food is his or her dinner! Healthy eating habits are established through example. It is not fair if you are eating pizza and potato chips for dinner, but your child is forced to eat peas and broccoli. As the adult, you must provide the child an example of healthy living if you expect the child to learn. Be a role model, and make being healthy as fun as possible. Maybe you do not like vegetables, and that is okay! Chances are, the kid will not like them either. If you both may detest how a certain food tastes, take that opportunity to explain to the child how sometimes being healthy is more important than convenience.

If society continues in its negligence to establish healthy living habits within the young generations, childhood obesity statistics will continue to rise at a rapid rate. In order to reduce childhood obesity statistics, adults must take initiative. Childhood obesity statistics will continue to climb if parents do not start making changes in their children’s lives now. While childhood obesity statistics are incredibly high right now, just think of the number if we do not instill in this generation the necessities of living a healthy lifestyle. It is crucial, not just for the sake of your children, but your children’s children, that healthy living habits be establish today. Next year’s childhood obesity statistics are based upon the choices you make for your child today. Do your part to insure a healthier, happier tomorrow.

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Sedentary Activities

Television and video games are two of the biggest contributors to teen obesity. When given the choice, a lot of teens are more likely to choose sitting in front of the television, computer, or video game over any outdoor activity. We need to get back to backyard family soccer and football games. Sports are a great way to encourage more physical activity. Every increase in activity is a step in the right direction to burn more calories to begin a path that will guide us towards a healthier youth.

Junk Food and Drink

Another major contributor to teen obesity is the amount of junk food and sugary drinks/soda pop that are so readily available. Even as adults, a lot of the time it is easier to grab a candy bar than to take the time and effort to prepare something healthier, yet if you set the right example from a young age with your kids, it can be an important first step. One of the things that parents?and teens?have to realize is that it is never too late to change eating and activity habits. Join your teen in developing better habits to help fight against teen obesity.

Health Effects of Teen Obesity

There are many negative effects teen obesity can have that will carry throughout their lifetime. It is common for obese teens to have problems with diabetes, sleep apnea, and high blood pressure. But health is not the only thing an obese teen struggles with. Obese teens often also face ridicule from their peers. While teen obesity is on the rise, there is still the model-thin mentality, especially among teen girls, thanks to the media. Being obese affects teen self confidence. It can lead to depression. The cost of being an obese teen is almost immeasurable. It can have a lifetime of lasting effects, both mental and physical.

Motivation

There are so many health benefits to becoming more active and making more nutritious choices. Being healthy can have such a positive effect on the mental well-being that is so important for teens and their successful, healthy navigation through adolescence. It is important to find the right kind of motivation for each individual teen. Motivation is especially important in the beginning to be successful in making the lifestyle change necessary to achieve health and weight loss goals. Starting to make healthier life choices can truly make a difference between life and death.

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This new found girth should surprise no one. Large portions of cheap food are just a drive-thru away. Most of our hobbies involve sitting in front of a video screen. And you?ll be hard pressed to find a job that doesn?t have us tethered to a desk and slaving away over a computer. As a society we eat poorly and exercise infrequently.

Sadly, this blubber-welcoming lifestyle is affecting our nation?s children. Childhood obesity rates are on the rise and so are the diseases associated with them. Now more than ever, parents must actively watch their children?s weight.

Parenting Fun 411 has compiled a list of the best things you can do to fight childhood obesity. These tips will help you teach your children the benefits of eating healthy and exercising.

Before proceeding, be aware that these tips are meant to combat the fat, not to cure it. If your child is morbidly obese you need to see a doctor. Our tips are still applicable but only after your child has sought professional help.

Be A Role Model – Your kids follow your lead. So you must set a good example. That means you need to eat healthy. You need to exercise. You need to eat multiple servings of vegetables a day. You need to get out from in front of the television. You must do all the things you want your kids to do. After all, if you want your children to fight off childhood obesity you must be fighting obesity too.

Don?t Compare – Don?t compare your kids to other kids. It?s detrimental to both their present and future self esteem. You set up your children for a lifetime of measuring their self-worth by comparing it to others. Not all kids, even kids the same height, are meant to be the same shape and/or weight. Everyone is different. So do your kids a big favor and only compare them to themselves.

Moderation – Getting your kids to fight off childhood obesity doesn?t mean they can never have a cookie or they can never play a video game. What it means is they need balance in their life. Instead of three cookies, they take one. Instead of spending all day playing video games, they play for an hour. Living healthy includes being happy and having fun, and sometimes that comes in the form of junk food and sedimentary activities.

No Diets, Food Choices – You generally don?t want to put your kids on a diet. Instead you want to teach them about making smart food choices that will stay with them over the course of a lifetime. Teach them the importance of regular servings of fruits and vegetables and the difference between proteins and carbohydrates. Ultimately, you want them to know what they are putting into their bodies and you want them only eating when they?re hungry.

Don?t Reward Your Kids With Food – Rewarding your kids with food will cause them to not only eat every time they?re happy but every time they?re sad too. In fact, they will equate food with strong emotions and that?s never good. You want your kids to eat only when they?re hungry. Now, children inherently know that they should eat only when their hungry. However, they lose that ability because adults force them to do stuff like clean their plate or eat when they are already full.

Include Your Children In The Meal Process – Assuming they?re of the proper age, and they have the inclination, include your children in the shopping and preparation of meals. Take them with you when you shop for produce. During your visits to grocery stores compare the labels of healthy foods to junk foods. If they enjoy it, have your kids assist you in preparing meals. That?s a great way to get them excited about eating healthy.

Find Enjoyable Physical Activities – As any adult can attest too, doing exercises and jogging are boring. So to get your child off the couch find something they enjoy doing?something that gets their heart rate up and causes them to break a sweat. If your kid isn?t into popular sports like soccer or basketball, find something else they like, maybe skateboarding or lacrosse. If that still doesn?t work it?s time to get creative. If your kid is a big fan of video games like Halo and Call of Duty maybe they would like to try paintball. There?s no excuse for your kid to be on the couch and inactive.

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The Link between Active Play and Mental Play

Active play is made up of the wide variety of physical activities that children naturally engage in during the course of a normal day. These activities shift as developmental markers are reached, but a short list includes standing, crawling, rolling, swinging, running, jumping, swimming, rollerblading and bike riding. Many studies link the amount and quality of childhood active play to both brain size and brain development.

The Modern Sedentary Lifestyle

Even if your children don’t spend hours each day in the coma-like trance brought on by watching television programs, they likely spend excessive amounts of time sitting in front of a computer screen playing video games. These virtual games often substitute for active play with friends in the neighborhood and at the park. The fact that children are taught to use the home computer at younger ages than ever before also contributes to them engaging in less active playtime as they get older.

Unfortunately, it is a habit that perpetuates itself into adulthood and is illustrated best by the image of a white collar office worker spending eight hours a day working at a computer.

Playing Actively is Critical for Motor Skills Development

Older children derive some benefit in terms of hand-eye coordination from learning to move a computer mouse around or handling a video game controller. Problems arise when they spend too much time engaging exclusively in this type of activity.

Younger children, however, develop best when interacting directly with their physical environment. From the infant to the elementary school child, cognitive, social, emotional and physical development are all directly related to the amount of time the child spends engaged in active play. Active play not only helps to develop motor skills, but builds the small and large muscle groups needed to maintain a healthy body.

Healthy Children, Healthy Adults

What is at stake here is not only the health of children, but the health of the adults they will become. Lifestyle habits are difficult to change, and a sedentary child has a greater likelihood of becoming a sedentary adult. Healthy adults need a minimum of 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise each day to help reduce the chances of developing heart disease, high blood pressure and non-hereditary diabetes. With so many adults working long hours at sedentary jobs, establishing a healthy routine that includes active play early in life is paramount to maintaining optimum physical health into the adult years.

The nature of human development dictates that children should be engaged in actively playing throughout their days. Engaging in childhood activities and exercise fosters every kind of child development, as well as maintains the physical health of the individual.

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It’s not possible to take all of these modern conveniences and forms of entertainment away from our kids. You can’t hope to prevent kids from wanting to play video games. There is however something that you can do, you can set limitations to make sure that they are getting enough exercise. Here are a few things you can try to encourage your child to get some exercise while still allowing them to have their screen-time fun.

1. Screen Rewards

Set up a simple system which allows them 30 minutes of time in front of a screen of their choice for every 15 minutes of exercise they do. They will actually quite enjoy this because they think that they get more time in front of a screen than they have to exercise. They just need to do 30 minutes of some form of exercise to get a whole hour of sitting in front of a screen. You will manage to get an extra 30 minutes of physical activity into your regime.

2. Get a Wii

The Wii is the only games console which makes playing computer games a form of exercise. This means that you don’t have to sit down on your butt and play games. You can set up your very own Mii (a “version” of yourself on the video game) and then use Wii Fit to do various exercises. The system works by measuring your BMI and checking your balance. Your child will really enjoy playing this game because it allows them to track the progress of your exercise program. You’ll like it because it is exercise, but in the form of a video game that children enjoy.

3. Various Activities

You also need to make your children realize that watching TV and playing computer games aren’t the only options available to entertain kids. There are actually plenty of other activities many of which are healthy and can help them to lose weight. Fitness weight loss camps are a great way to have fun and learn some brilliant exercise regimes. Try to get the whole family out on day trips at the weekend. You could take them over to the park, or you might even want to get yourself a dog so that people get exercise from walking it. You might even like to set up an obstacle course in the garden to get your blood pumping. The key is to show kids that exercise isn’t a bad word – in fact things that are “exercise” can be, first and foremost, fun. Kids need to stop thinking of exercise as a chore and learn some activities that they enjoy simply for what they are. The sooner they stop thinking of it as exercising and start thinking of it as having fun, the quicker they’ll be on track to start losing weight.

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