Healthy Exercises For Kids

By Julia Gaynor
August 14, 2009

Overweight and out-of-shape kids are more and more common in America, but it’s more than just a “kid” problem. The trouble is that unhealthy kids often turn into unhealthy adults.

Help your kids start healthy now and stay healthy later by making sure they get enough exercise as well as the right kind of exercise for their age.

How Much Exercise?

According to the National Association for Sport and Physical education, all kids 2 years and older should get at least 60 minutes of moderate to rigorous exercise most days of the week.

For those under school age, there should be an hour of structured exercise and an hour of “free play.” School-aged children should not be active for periods of more than two hours or more. That means that one movie on the couch is all the couch surfing they’re allowed!

The Right Exercises For Kids

Kids aren’t just exercising to stay in shape – they’re growing and developing muscles, bones, joints and ligaments, so it’s important that they get all three of the most important kinds of exercise. Here are the three types of exercise that kids need:

Endurance: This is what you see when kids run around chasing each other on a playground. It strengthens their cardiovascular system and builds physical and mental strength.

Strength: This kind of fitness is what we normally associate with weight-lifting, but with kids, it can come from push-ups, pull ups, climbing and other wrestling activities.

Flexibilty: Building great flexibility in kids can come from bending down to tie their shoes to practicing different gymnastic moves like cartwheels, splits and other stretching moves. The great thing about stretching is that it can be done almost any time, anywhere.

Raising Healthy Kids

The thing about kids is that they’re exercising almost every time they do what they love most – play. As long as they’re not planted in front of the TV set, they will find ways to run and jump, climb and have adventures which will all burn calories and build muscle.

And remember that old expression “monkey-see, monkey-do”? Well, if you live a fit and healthy lifestyle, just think of what a power of example you can be for your kids. You don’t have to run marathons to show how to be fit and healthy. Here are a few ideas:

• Walk your errands when you could drive
• Take the stairs when you could take the elevator
• Go for nightly walks or jogs with your family.
• Take weekend bike rides when the weather allows.
• Cook healthy meals for your whole family.

Just to remind you of all of the fun things that kids love to do, here’s a list of kid-friendly exercises that will give them strength, flexibility and endurance!

• Basketball
• Playing “tag”
• Jumprope
• Bicycling
• Ice-skating
• Gymnastics
• Inline skating
• Cheerleading
• Soccer
• Hiking
• Swimming
• Tennis
• Walking
• Jogging
• Running
• Wii-Fit (yes, even this!)

Source: Eversave

Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think? dan@youngchronicle.com