By Ashley Puljic
The battle to be fit is not easily won, but there isn’t a better time than now to get your kids moving. By encouraging physical activity and good habits in children from an early age, you can help them develop skills to continue being active throughout their lives.
A program developed by The Children’s Hospital at Westmead is helping young people between the ages of 13 and 16 make healthier lifestyle choices with diet and exercise.
Research Dietician, Binh Nguyen says the eight-week program Loozit, has a “positive focus with emphasis on the whole family making realistic and achievable lifestyle changes that can fit in with everyday life in the long term.” Parents attend separate sessions to their children where they discuss how to support their child, using strategies such as saying no to junk food and limiting portion size.
Results of the National Health Survey conducted in 2007-08 indicate that 24.9% of children aged between five and 17 years are overweight or obese – according to the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.
The most important long term consequence of childhood obesity is its persistence into adulthood. Once a child is overweight or obese it is unlikely they will return to a healthy weight and are more prone to medical conditions such as Type 2 diabetes, sleep apnoea, heat intolerance, asthma, tiredness and flat feet.
Committed to encouraging children to lead healthy and active lifestyles, gyms have begun including kids exercise classes into their timetable.
Fitness Specialist Ross Fowler, from Beaton Park and Lakeside Leisure Centres in Wollongong, says their classes offer a broad variety of sporting activities from circuits to social games of tennis or soccer.
“At Lakeside we hold an Exerkids class for children aged between five and 12 years, and a Teen Circuit for 13-16 year olds held in our fully equipped circuit area. We also cater to nearby primary school, Hayes Park, with children coming over to the gym to participate in exercise and games,” he says.
“Beaton Park also caters to school children aged between 10 and 16 years in their Junior Circuit. I have had younger children aged under eight join in the class in the past but they are harder to manage and supervise.”
According to Australia’s Physical Activity Recommendations for 5-12 year olds, children greatly benefit from being physically active. They should participate in at least 60 minutes (and up to several hours) of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day. To help your child achieve this, they need opportunities to be active at school, after school and on weekends.
On a typical day Beaton Park’s Junior Circuit begins with warm ups on the bike or rower, followed by exercises around the circuit. “I’ll then get the kids to grab a skipping rope and some boxing gloves and I’ll take them outside where they get to do some running, skipping, lunges, squats, and step ups,” Ross Fowler says. After a few more exercises on the circuit inside, the class concludes with some abdominal work and stretching.
“When I run the school group I usually get them to start off with a relay race, then we might play some games such as dodge ball, tennis or soccer, followed by stretching at the end,” Ross Fowler explains.
Physical activity doesn’t all have to be done at once. It can be built up throughout the day by walking or riding to and from school, participating in more activities at school, active play at home or organised sport after school and on weekends.
As well as being active, it is important to remember to limit the amount of time that children spend watching ‘small screens’ such as televisions, playing on the internet or computer games to no more than two hours a day.
According to Ross Fowler, running is great exercise for kids as “it gets them using different muscles and burns off energy they would have built up eating high sugar, salt and fat content snack foods.”
PHOTO: courtesy of www.sxc.hu
“Boxing and skipping are fun and enjoyable types of exercise, and boxing is also good for developing coordination. Stretching must be done at the end of every workout and is great for young children and their flexibility,” he says.
The exercise programs that are on offer at your local gym will get your kids active and burning excess energy. They also have the opportunity to learn new games and meet new people. “It’s great because they get to have fun and exercise at the same time. It encourages them to exercise from an early age, so it becomes something they enjoy and want to continue in the future,” Ross Fowler says.
“What it doesn’t do is stop them from putting fatty foods in their mouth. It’s a parent’s responsibility to teach their children healthy eating habits at home.”
At the Loozit program children are introduced to healthy meals and snacks, and are encouraged to experiment with new foods and fresh ingredients. “We also show them how they can become more active in a fun way, as well as look at self esteem and positive ways to manage stress,” Binh Nguyen explains.
“The young people support each other when they find it hard to stick to their goals around managing their weight and physical activity…we see the teenagers change from people who don’t want to make eye contact to young people who enter a room, look at you and smile.”
