Understanding Parental Roles In Child Fitness
Understanding Parental Roles In Child Fitness
Parents play a pivotal role in every child’s childhood, taking care and educating them. Over the years, we have seen an alarming increase of childhood obesity in the United States, affecting over 13.7 million children and adolescents. This is extremely worrying as childhood obesity is a serious problem, putting these children at risk of poor health. Moreover, childhood obesity has been linked to several other mental and health problems, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and depression.
As parents, we can help our kids get out of this. To stay fit and healthy, our children require a balance of both a good diet and regular exercise. As a start, you can first understand what kind of parental roles there are in child fitness.
How can Parents Encourage Their Kids to Exercise?
It’s simple. Start exercising yourself. Kids look up to their parents. By exercising, you are acting as role models for your kids to follow you and to do the same as well. Research has shown that there is a strong correlation between the activity levels of parents and that of their children. Parents who exercise regularly tend to have children who also exercise regularly. Therefore, the best way to encourage your kids to get active would be to get active yourself too.
You can also organize fun activities like team sports to play with your children. This will not only help your kids to be active, but also serve as a great bonding time for your family.
However, with the busy lifestyles that many people lead today, it can get pretty tiring to have to play with your kids all the time. So, if you are one of those busy parents who are unable to take time out regularly to exercise with your kids, a great alternative would be to get an indoor playground for your kids! Every child loves playtime and an indoor playground is the perfect platform for your child to run around and sweat it out.
Who is a better Influence – Mother Or Father?
You may wonder, is there a difference between the mother and the father on getting the kid to exercise? This is probably true back in the days, where mothers were thought to oversee the logistical planning of the kid’s physical activity whereas fathers were more likely to play with the kids instead. However, this have since changed. In recent years, both parents have taken up both roles and the line are increasingly grayed. Parents today need to be playing both roles simultaneously to optimize the activity level of their child.
Whether you are a mom or a dad, it is still your responsibility to keep your child healthy and fit. Starting an active lifestyle at a young age will be useful as your child will most likely follow the lifestyle as he or she transits into adulthood.
If you are looking for fun equipment that you can install at home to keep your child active all day, come to Fitness Kid. We have a wide variety of products, making sure you can find the perfect item for your kid. So, contact us today!