Working Mum

I was sent an email yesterday by one of my networking friends, Peter Moorhead. Peter runs a personal training company called Celebrate Health and Fitness. Peter had been asked a question in the networking meeting about school sports and how could we avoid our children being a generation of fatties. The email was his response and as someone who shares his belief in getting the kids out and about I thought I would share it with you.

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I was asked today:

“What do you think about school sports, etc in this country and what exercise our children should take to prevent them being a generation of fatties!!!!”

And as my answer would take more than a minute, here is a more full version:

School playing fields are the first major difference I think of. We had them and the kids today don’t for the most part . I remember every lunchtime, the 30 something a side football game going on , Throwing and catching balls, bashing a tennis ball around and generally running around chasing and having fun. But I also remember most of us had to be pushed outside and it is fair to say, given a gadget to play with, in the dry and warm, I probably would have opted for that too, most often.

There is always going to be a new “must have” gadget and kids will chose a warm “safe” and comfy environment and so to keep them active they must be encouraged, motivated and at times shoved out into the fresh air. I support anything that will encourage our children to be in motion and the key to that is fun.

If they want to do street dance, encourage them. If they want to run, swim, cycle or walk, support them and if the fresh air approach does not work, better a wii fit than nothing. And if they don’t want any of this then take some responsibility and lead by example. Do it yourself and involve the kids too.

From my own experience my sincere belief that a love of exercise in the fresh air starts with a family walk. Make it a regular thing that, say every Sunday afternoon, you will all go for a walk somewhere for at least an hour. It works.

Exercise alone though will not shed the pounds and diet is a major factor. I would suggest that sugar in our diets is the major cause of weight problems in adults and children so take a closer look at the sugar content  in those foods that may even be low in  fat. It could be loaded with the evil addictive white stuff – too much sugar. And certainly don’t drink fruit juice to quench thirst, there is often as much sugar in fruit juice as the equivalent volume of cola. Opt for water, pure and simple and nature’s life-force.

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I totally agree with Peter, at school we had a huge sports field (sadly most of it has gone now) and we were pushed outdoors in all weathers. Generally we would run around but if it was wet we would try and blag our way past the prefects to get into the dry.  The main reason we chose the nursery our kids went to is because of all the ones we saw this one had the largest outdoor space for running around and as Peter suggests we do try to get out for a walk at least once each weekend, weather permitting.

What about you?