Encouraging your child to workout

With the increase in consumption of junk and fast food, obesity in children is rapidly on the rise. It has now overtaken other diseases to become the most common disease in children and has now become an issue of prime concern for children, their parents and as well as the health departments of the states. Stress is another health problem that is also spreading its grasp among children. It has almost taken the form of epidemic now. All these health problems are mainly due to the change in life style among children because of technology.

Technology has made life easy and more comfortable. The amount of physical activity required to lead a life has been reduced to a great extent now. All the daily chores that used to be done manually earlier are done by machines now. Escalators, elevators, cell phones, push buttoned machines have reduced all work. All human beings including children now lead a sedentary life. They do not move like they used to earlier. Even outdoor games have been taken over by indoor games like video games, various computer games, social networking sites like face book, twitter, orkut, hi5 etc; and the different games in the networking sites. As a result physical activities have been decreased to a great deal.

Nowadays most schools also provide only a single P.E class in a week and working moms now do not have time to cook food for their children and send them fast food as their Tiffin. These fast foods are actually storehouse of empty calories as they do not contain any food value but only contains loads of calories. So the parents should take a little time from their busy schedule and make healthy and nutritious Tiffin for their children. They should also encourage them to have homemade food rather than fast food from outside.

It is the duty of the parents to take initiative and fight this epidemic by doing little things for their children. The parents should get their children involved in sports as much as possible. They parents should discourage the children from watching television and should make them understand that it is their time to study and play. They should see to it that their children is playing and running in open field at least one hour a day. They should encourage them to take up outdoor games rather than indoor games.

The parents should always keep in mind that they are the only fitness guide that their children have. Whatever they teach and tell their children is accepted and followed by them which may also become their habits. The parents should tell the children the importance of physical activity and staying fit. They should also make them aware of the consequences of leading a sedentary life. If a child does not have space to go outside and play, he should do at least one hour of exercise at home. It will keep him healthy and fit.

The best way to convince the child for working out is to set a time and work out together with them.