Child inaCtivity has reaChed Crisis proportions in Canada. here are 10 ways to Get Kids movinG. By yuki HayasHi
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ust seven percent of fve- to 11-year-olds and four percent of 12- to 17-year-olds get the federal government’s recommended 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day. Regular physical activity promotes cardiovascular ftness, strength and bone density. It also lowers the risk of cancer, Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. We polled health experts, advocates and Canadian Olympians for their top tips to get kids moving.
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Walk the Walk “As parents, it is our responsibility to set good examples for our children. If our children see us being active and having fun doing it, they will choose this way of life,” says Lascelles Brown, an Olympic medallist in Bobsleigh and a dad of six. Te good news: You don’t have to be an elite athlete to inspire your kids. Just convey enthusiasm for and commitment to your Zumba sessions or lunchtime strolls.
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FolloW your child’s cues You might presume hockey star Hayley Wickenheiser’s kid would be a
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hockey nut. Not at all. Wickenheiser’s 13-year-old son “didn’t want anything to do with hockey,” says the Olympic medallist. “I encouraged Noah to get involved in something he had fun doing. It was important that he wanted to go and that it would be his thing. He chose swimming,” says the proud mama.
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have silly Fun! For Pippa Whitfeld, the six-yearold daughter of four-time Olympic triathlete Simon Whitfeld, stormy weather is cause for celebration. “We had a big windstorm the other day and Pippa and I threw on our jackets and ran up and down the waterfront park,” says Whitfeld. “We ran into the wind, then turned around and ran back. We were out there for an hour.” If you look around, you’ll fnd countless similar opportunities for tag, wrestling, or building snow forts. If your heart’s racing and you’re laughing, you’re in the zone!
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Walk to school Between 2000 and 2010, the number of kids who got to school via car or bus increased from 51 to 62 percent. If kids walked or biked that daily trip, they’d spend an average of 15 to 20 extra minutes per day moving. Tis might not be achievable every day, but just a couple days per week makes a diference. Try leaving the car at home when taking your kids to the library or the local skating rink, too.
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Put activity into context Organized sports have a role to play, but it’s the everyday activities that are the real game changers, says Mark Tremblay, director of healthy active living and obesity research at Ottawa’s CHEO Research Institute (and a dad of four). Kids should be “running, chasing the dog, playing hopscotch in the driveway, shooting hoops, shooting pucks—all those things they can do with no coach, no uniform, no score clock, no minivan,” he says.
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let Go a little Kids have less freedom than ever to roam the outdoors, says Tremblay. “In the name of good parenting, [we] keep our canadianliving.com | March 2014
PHOTOGRAPHY: CAnAdiAn OlYmPiC COmmiTTee (HAYleY WiCkenHeiseR And lAsCelles BROWn); CiBC (simOn WHiTField); isTOCkPHOTO (BOY)
fitness
