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Is your child lazy? Get him to exercise before it is too late

Is your child lazy? Get him to exercise before it is too late
You must try and inculcate healthy habits from an early age so that your child is never tempted by a sedentary lifestyle. ©Shutterstock

Kids nowadays are prone to sedentary lifestyles, which increase their risk of many diseases. As a parent, you must try to reverse this at the earliest.

Written by Jahnavi Sarma |Published : October 17, 2019 8:59 PM IST

Kids now-a-days lead a sedentary lifestyle. This is especially true in urban scenarios where there is a lack of open spaces. Moreover, today's fast-paced lifestyle hardly leaves any time for play. A child is often over-burdened by school work and may spend his or her precious free time playing video games or watching television. But this is not good for children's health.

What most parents don't realise is that an inactive lifestyle can have an adverse effect on the health of their kid. According to a study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, there is an association between physical fitness and the brain in 9- and 10-year-old children. Those who are more fit tend to have a bigger hippocampus and perform better on a test of memory than their less-fit peers. This study appears in the journal Brain Research.

Teach your child the importance of exercise

According to researchers of the Endocrine Society, exercise may play a key role in helping children cope with stressful situations. This was published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM). And another study at the University of Eastern Finland says that physical exercise can reduce the risk factors of type two diabetes and cardiovascular disease in children. Researchers came to this conclusion after a two-year follow-up of primary school children. They saw that sedentary behaviour increased the accumulation of risk factors, whereas physical exercise reduced it.

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Hence, we see how important it is to get your child to exercise and be active. You must try and inculcate healthy habits from an early age so that your child is never tempted by a sedentary lifestyle. But if he is, you can gradually wean him or her away from it towards a more healthy and fit life. By doing this, you will also significantly reduce his risk of many serious diseases.

Help your child be physically active

A study at Duke Medicine says that kids whose moms encourage them to engage in physical exercise and eat well, and model those healthy behaviours themselves, are more likely to be active and healthy eaters. Researchers remind parents that they are role models for their children and underscore the importance of parental policies promoting physical activity and healthy eating.

You can also contribute to your child's health by making him more active. You can lead by example. As the above-mentioned study says, if you exercise regularly and lead a healthy life, you child will also follow suit. Other than this, try to engage your child in fun-filled activities out of doors. Try to plan outings that involve walking and hiking. Go to the park and kick a ball with your child. Encourage him to play with the other kids there. Plan a picnic and invite other kids over. Initiate some game that involves physical activity. Ensure that your child has a safe environment to play in. And, the most important thing to do is restrict his screen time. Limit his TV, computer and phone time to not more than 1 or 2 hours in a day.