Want to know an unfortunate truth? Physical education in the United States is on the decline, and obesity is on the rise. More than 17% of young adults aged 12 to 19 years are overweight.* When you consider the fact that physical fitness is confined to one 40 minute period or less per day, 15 minutes of which are often spent changing out of school clothes into gym clothes, it’s not surprising that so many children in the U.S. are overweight.
By the time a child gets ready to do anything physical, it’s time for them to change back into school clothes, and then class is over. Add to this the fact that in many schools physical education courses are no longer even a requirement, it’s easy to see why obesity and diabetes in children is becoming an epidemic. What can you do to help? The short answer is to get your children moving all year long outside of school.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Children and adolescents should do 60 minutes (1 hour) or more of physical activity each day.” Now, this doesn’t have to be exceptionally difficult exercise. One option is to enroll your children in extracurricular activities like sports or dance classes. However, if those don’t seem feasible to you, below are just a few ideas of things you can use to get this hour of physical activity.
- Scavenger hunts – Great for walking and jogging. Click here to find a bunch of scavenger hunt ideas.
- Hopscotch – With some chalk and a pebble, you’ve got an instant game
- Jumping Jacks or Jumping Rope – Great for getting the heart rate up
- Bike riding – Are there trails in your area you could ride?
- Tennis – Great for coordination and it involves a lot of running to chase the ball
- Swimming – Click here to learn about fun games while swimming.
- Dance off – Just play some music and dance around
- Tag and Hide and Seek – Who doesn’t love a good game of “catch me if you can”?
- Yoga – Yes, kids can do yoga. In fact, yoga while young will help them get and stay flexible as adults if it becomes a habit.
- Chores – Believe it or not a lot of the chores you can have children do can help them with their physical fitness. Check out this chart that shows how many calories are burned while doing your chores!
Now, we’d love to hear from you. What are your favorite ways to squeeze in your daily physical fitness? Leave a comment below and tell us about it!