Did you know that yoga can help to reduce stress and anxiety in children? Yoga also helps to promote physical health and encourages children to have body positivity and love their bodies from an early age.
There are a whole variety of sports available to children, which can help to encourage a healthy lifestyle and help them develop as individuals. And with the rise of obesity, it is important that you teach your child how to live a healthy life.
Discover these 6 ways in which you can encourage your child to enjoy fitness and an active lifestyle.
Importance of child fitness
The rise of obesity is threatening adults and children all over the world. Obesity rates amongst children in Canada has tripled in the last 30 years.
To avoid being at a higher risk of developing serious physical and mental health issues, children need to be taught how to lead a healthier life. This includes children understanding how to eat a healthy and well-balanced diet and also how to exercise.
If your child is being reluctant with their fitness then there are a number of ways you can encourage them to become more physically active:
Help them find something they enjoy
Not every sport is enjoyable and some people like to do some sports more than others. Don’t try to force your child to go swimming if they don’t enjoy it, instead try out a number of different sports with them and try to find one that they really like.
Be encouraging
Once they have a sport that they really enjoy, remember to be encouraging about it. Show an interest in their sport, for example you could ask them about what they did or who won, or you could make sure you go and cheer them on everytime they have practice or a tournament.
Combine fitness and family time
If your child doesn’t want to play on a sports team or go to swimming lessons etc, then you could combine fitness and family time together. This is a great idea for families who want to get fit together and spend more quality time with one another.
Why not get the whole family together and go for a walk or a bike ride in the countryside?
Keep it fun
According to Joe Jenkins, from Parentscorner, children love being creative and having fun, so make sure you don’t place too much pressure on them and keep the idea of exercising fun.
If something is fun to do, then your child will want to do it more often, which is a very important lesson that they will take with them through life.
Star charts
Children love watching TV and being on their phones or tablets, but one way you can stop them from staring at their screen for hours on end is by having star charts.
Star charts encourage your children to do a certain thing because of the reward element. For example, you could have star charts for how many steps they do or how many chores they do around the house.
Get them active gifts
Maybe your child’s birthday is coming up, or it is nearly Christmas? This is a great opportunity to buy them a gift that encourages them to be active. For example, you could get them a new football, or a swingball set, that they can play with in the garden.
If it is your child’s birthday, you could even invite all their friends round for a party and they can all play in the garden with the gifts that encourage them to be active.
