After School Activities - Inactive Child

After School Programs for the Inactive Child

Research has shown that child hood obesity is a major issue today. The cases of juvenile diabetes are on the rise and this can be directly related to the lack of activity and exercise children get today.

With so many families having two parents that work it can be easy to forget about exercise. Everyone comes home tired and it is so easy to allow your kids to watch TV or play a video game. Even feeding them convenience foods is at an all time high. Popping a frozen pizza or dinner in the oven is much easier than cooking a meal. But this benefits no-one especially your children. They will grow into overweight teenagers and develop a lifetime of dealing with weight issues.

With so many budget cuts many schools have been forced to close or cut down on their gym and swimming programs. Kids no longer get a couple of hours of exercise each week. Instead it is left to the parents to encourage their children to exercise more.

One way to do this is to enroll your child in some form of recreational after school program. As well as getting them more active and fit the child is shown that exercise is fun!

There are many types of after school activities that you can enroll your child into. Football, swimming, skating, Karate and dance classes are all healthy exercises that will help your child become fit.

The biggest issue you may face is getting your child used to the idea of going to an after school program. Especially if they are really inactive! The best way would be to discuss the idea with your child first and see what type of sports interest them.

Swimming is actually easy on the joints and fun, there are many water aerobic classes aimed at kids. Your child may want to do yoga or martial arts, again these are great forms of exercise and are something that your whole family could enjoy.

Many recreational after school programs run for a limited number of weeks. This can work to your advantage if your child is being stubborn about joining an activity. Getting them to go to a class for a six week period may be much easier than signing up for a year’s worth of Karate lessons!

Summer camp programs are another neat way to introduce your child to a more active lifestyle. But of course they would learn by example from you as their parent. If they see you being more active then they will be more willing to join you. How about taking up a family Sunday hike?