With America’s continued decline in fitness and rise in obesity, getting your child active and involved in sports could be a major contributor to the health and well being of children.
Gone are the days when children went outside and played for several hours during the day. The rise on internet social media and video-games has turned American children into virtual couch potatoes.
Sports are a great way to get children moving. The National Football League recently introduced a program that encourages youth to get outside and play for at least an hour a day. The one element most sports involve is running, and running is a great way to lose weight and stay healthy.
Different children like different sports. Full contact sports like football might be too much for some children. A sport like swimming may not be the answer, especially if your child does not have the proper training or confidence to spend time in the water.
Find out what your child likes to do, and then do it with them. Not only are children registering off the scale, but also adults are leading sedentary lifestyles because of today’s on-line working environment. Playing sports together is a great way for family’s to get healthy and spend time together while doing it.
Many youth don’t even like sports, but there are groups and leagues that provide non competitive sports for both youth and adults. If your child isn’t competitive or doesn’t want the pressure that team sports brings, they can still find something that keeps them actively engaged while exercising.
Even golf, which isn’t considered a physically active sport, forces participants to walk around a course for several miles while working on flexibility and mastering patience and mind control. Youth soccer is exploding across the Unites States, and millions of youth can be found on Saturday morning’s across the country, running around and having fun.
Sports are not for everyone, but encouraging youth to get outside and get moving is a great way to create healthy lifestyles that will last a lifetime.