What You Can Do To Get Your Children Active

(CARLSBAD, CA) - The obesity epidemic is upon us. We’ve watched physical activity amongst our youth dwindle with each passing decade and body weight burgeon. Adolescent girls are at greatest risk, as they display a sharp decrease in the frequency and intensity of physical activity as they get older.

With physical education programs reeling from budget cuts for the past several years, it’s time for parents to take matters into their own hands. Frankly, that’s the best place for them to be. Jazzercise founder Judi Sheppard Missett says children are most likely to model their parents’ behavior, and you wield the greatest influence in your child’s choice to be active or sedentary.

So what’s a parent to do?

— Create an atmosphere for success. Make physical activity easily accessible. Have a supply of fun outdoor and indoor toys that promote movement. Limit television, computer and video game time. Most of all make fitness a family affair – there’s strength in numbers!

— Introduce your children to a variety of activities. Explore various options together, from aerobic exercise to strength and flexibility training. Let them experience both individual non-competitive endeavors, such as yoga, weight training and dance exercise, and team sports.

— Help your children to set fitness goals. They don’t have to be grandiose or complicated but can be as simple as playing on the jungle gym for 30 minutes with their friends three times a week. As your children grow older you can guide them to more challenging goals, like completing a five-mile hike or an all-day biking trip.

— Attitude is everything! When you hear the familiar whine, “Why do we have to go on a bike ride?” Make your response, “We don’t have to, we get to!”

— Children won’t see the connection between exercise and their health, but you can help them to connect the dots. Let them know that riding their bikes, swimming, playing tag, etc., will make their hearts stronger, help them sleep better and keep them from getting sick.

— Keep a fitness diary or calendar. Have your children write down their activity each day and how they felt. As they track their progress, their motivation will grow.

Give yourself and your children a chance to sample a variety of activities until you find one or more that resonates with each individual in your family. The following exercises offer two great ways for all of you to test your balance, coordination and agility.

First, a karate kick.  Stand with your feet hip width apart, and your knees and toes pointing forward. Bend your knees into a shallow squat and bring your arms up in front of your chest, making fists. Carefully kick your left leg out to the side as you straighten your right leg.  Don’t worry about how high you kick; start by aiming your heel about 1 to 2 feet off the floor.  Practice holding your abdominal muscles in and using your leg muscles to control the speed of the kick. Straighten the knee with control, using your muscles to prevent it from snapping straight.  Try the kick with your right leg too

Next, try the following arabesque which comes from ballet and challenges your balance while strengthening your legs and back. Stand with your heels together and your toes apart in a slight ‘V’ shape.  Lift your torso tall, relax your shoulders, and pull your abdominal muscles in.   Reach your right arm forward and your left arm to the side and slightly back.  Now stretch your left leg behind you, slowly lifting it upward. Again, don’t worry about the height of your leg; lift it only as high as you can while still maintaining your balance without leaning forward or to the side with your torso.  Hold for a few seconds before trying the other leg.

Jazzercise, created by Judi Sheppard Missett, is the world's leading dance-fitness program with more than 6,800 instructors teaching 30,000 classes weekly in the U.S. and around the globe. Since 1969, millions of people of all ages and fitness levels have reaped the benefits of this comprehensive program, designed to enhance cardiovascular endurance, strength, and flexibility. For more information on Jazzercise go to jazzercise.com or call (800)FIT-IS-IT or (760)476-1750.

Courtesy of Jazzercise, Inc. - jazzercise.com