Curb Chidhood Obesity with Weight Loss Camps

Filed Under Wellness

How was your workout today? Did you do one? What was your most active thing you performed today? If you are into exercise, then fantastic, but the obesity and overweight numbers in our country and rising enrollments in teen weight loss camps would indicate that most of us do not exercise often enough. Our dependence on modern conveniences has created a sedentary lifestyle that has led to more health problems than ever before.

Children learn more from what Mom and Dad “do” rather than what they “say.” If they see you exercising every day, then they will be more likely to exercise regularly themselves. Even if you have a hard time picturing your 7-year-old “working out,” you also cannot expect 15 minutes of playing outside with friends to be enough exercise for them.

Older children are even worse in their lack of physical activity. Girls tend to switch to more sedentary activities even sooner. Unless you have a little athlete or rough and tumble kiddo, your child probably doesn’t get enough regular exercise just through playing. Sports kids only have a few practices or games a week. This is simply not enough.

Don’t get me wrong here, sports and playing outside is beneficial on many fronts, but if you want to foster daily fitness that your child will take with them long into their adult years, then you need to make it as much of a habit as brushing their teeth. If you don’t exercise regularly, this will be difficult to begin doing, but now might be a good time to get the whole family in shape. You might consider fat camps this summer or over the next break to help, but you can get started right now!

At home, you can begin helping your child exercise by finding exercise activities that they enjoy, yet offer a routine type activity. One idea is a game of tag at your local park with all the neighborhood kids, played at a regular time, but continue to push towards more routine activities such as running. You could do this by sneaking in the running. Perhaps, “IT” needs to run a lap around the field before chasing the other players. Try to purchase a bit of home gym equipment as you can (garage sales are a good start) and teach yourself and the kids how to properly use this equipment. Make sure you keep safety in mind. For younger kids, a trampoline that has walls around is a great purchase or even a jump rope for a less expensive route.

You can make any exercise fun and your child will learn how to do this as well. Sooner or later, they’ll be able to incorporate it into their lives on a daily basis. A weight loss camp for kids can help also. Your child will probably have loads of fun too!

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