10 Ways for Families to Exercise Together

Nurse Trimble

Childhood obesity is on the rise and leads to these children developing many medical problems which include high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis and even depression. 
The amount of time spent watching television, playing on the computer and playing sedentary video games is directly linked to childhood obesity.
The following are suggestions to make exercise a more fun and family centered event instead of it feeling like a punishment.

1.   Walking to and from school with your child. A brisk walk everyday is great exercise.

2.    Play physical participation videos with your child such as WII.

3.    Take a walk to the park to reward your child for a job well done. Play Frisbee or pitch a ball.

4.   Take a class together like martial arts, dance or yoga.

5.   Walk the dog

6.   Work on planting a garden with your kids.  They will get some brisk exercise digging, planting and weeding.

7.    Take your child to the playground to help build muscle strength through swinging on the bars, climbing on tree or playing tug-of-war.

8.     Turn birthdays into an active family adventure. A bike makes a great active present as does a basketball hoop in the driveway or badminton net the backyard.

9.     Build strong bones by playing games that strengthen our bones like hopscotch, jump rope, gymnastics or volleyball.

10.  Follow your kids lead. If your child shows some interest in some activity, such as dancing, encourage it and go with them to participate.